Economics
Confidence Among Japan’s Manufacturers Rises to Decade High
- Sentiment among large producers improves for a fifth quarter
- Japan has seen seven straight quarters of economic expansion
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Japan’s companies are more confident than they have been in years, with the global economic expansion underpinning exports and corporate profits, boosting the sentiment of firms both large and small.
A relatively weak yen and healthy global economy have fueled exports and record profits in Japan, contributing to the nation’s longest economic expansion since the mid-1990s. The seven quarters of rising gross domestic product have raised sentiment, although many households are still waiting for companies to turn earnings into significant pay increases. Despite the corporate confidence, with inflation well below the central bank’s target, there is little prospect of any change in monetary policy when the board meets next week.