JAPAN DATA: More firms reported in December that it was easier to
issue commercial paper than three months ago as the number of firms that
said conditions were “severe” fell, a followup poll to the Bank of
Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey showed. The diffusion index (“easy”
minus “severe”) showing the current CP issuing conditions among major
firms that have issued short-term debt at least once in the past two
years posted the second straight y/y rise, rising to 31 in December from
30 in September. It was close to a record high of 32 marked in March
2010. This indicates that corporate funding, at least for firms that are
large enough to be able to issue debt, might have already recovered to a
“normal” level from the difficult times over a year ago and that there
was limited room for further improvement.