Japanese companies¡¯ cash holdings rose to a record last quarter, highlighting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s struggle to spur the investment and wage increases needed to end a 15-year deflationary malaise.
Corporate holdings of cash and deposits rose to ?224 trillion, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to a Bank of Japan report released Thursday.
The yen¡¯s 17 percent slide against the dollar this year has boosted exporters¡¯ profits, contributing to a cash pile similar in size to Russia¡¯s gross domestic product. As Abe campaigns to reflate the world¡¯s third-biggest economy, he¡¯s relying on company spending to drive a longer-term recovery once the jolt from the unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus wears off.
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