TOKYO (MNI) – Japanese corporate demand for financing via bank
loans rose in July-September for the first rise in two quarters as firms
sought to increase cash holdings amid falling borrowing costs, according
to a survey of senior bank loan officers by the Bank of Japan released
Monday.
The BOJ’s index for corporate fund demand, which is calculated by
subtracting the number of banks reporting a decline in lending from the
number reporting an increase, rose to +5 in the third quarter from -3 in
April-June.
But the index is expected to fall to 0 in fourth calendar quarter,
the quarterly survey showed.
Loan officers cited lower interests on loans and firms’ stance of
increasing cash holdings as the main reasons for higher funding demands
in July-September, according to the survey conducted from Sept. 11 to
Oct. 11.
Corporate funding costs continue to fall, with lending rates
offered by domestic banks dropping to an average 0.989% in August from
1.043% in July.
The survey results are consistent with the BOJ’s latest bank
lending data released on Oct. 11.
Outstanding bank loans in Japan rose 1.2% from a year earlier to
Y397.7 trillion in September, marking a 12th straight rise. The pace of
increase accelerated from a 1.1% rise in August and remained the highest
rise since October 2009, when lending was up 1.5%.
According to the senior loan officer survey, the index for demand
from major companies rose to +6, up from +2 the previous quarter, while
the index for small businesses also rose to +1 from -6.
The BOJ’s senior loan officer index surged to a record high of +43
in the final quarter of 2008 from -5 in the previous quarter after the
collapse of Lehman Brothers and the resulting financial crisis that hurt
companies’ ability to borrow directly from financial markets.
tokyo@mni-news.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-6860-4822 **
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