BOJ cuts assessment for 1 of 9 Japan regions in quarterly report
- Raises assessment for 1 of 9 Japan regions in quarterly report
- Eight regions say economy recovering moderately or has continued to recover
- Many firms mainly in big cities raising salaries, while smaller firms remain cautious of doing so
- Many firms have yet to decide whether to raise base wages next year, though firms expecting rising revenues appear keen on doing so
- Smaller firms in regional areas of Japan appear reluctant to raise base wages on uncertainty over profit outlook, low growth expectations
- Labour markets likely to remain tight for time being but corporate moves to raise wages have failed to gain momentum
- Efforts to boost corporate innovation, eradicate consumers' deflationary mindset necessary to encourage firms to boost wages
Some firms are reluctant to raise regular pay as they feel recent profit gains largely due to temporary factors like yen moves
Headlines via Reuters
There were concerns on this report that it would not indicate firms keen to raise wages. While by no means does it portray firms falling over themselves to boost wages, its not as bad maybe was feared.
Its a yen positive insofar as it decreases the probability of further easing, but I'd say just marginally so. If you're a yen bear I wouldn't be staking too much on this one report.
