People walk past Japan’s national flags in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on Mar 19, 2024. TOKYO: Japanese big manufacturers' sentiment improved slightly in the three months to December, a quarterly survey showed on Friday , boding well for the central bank's plans to gradually raise interest rates from near-zero levels.
The headline index measuring big manufacturers' business confidence stood at +14 in December, up from +13 three months ago and marking the highest reading since March 2022, the survey showed. It compared with a median market forecast for +12. The business mood worsened sharply among retailers, hotels and restaurants as they struggled to hire staff, and faced rising labour and raw material costs, the survey showed.
Companies expect inflation to stay above the BOJ's 2 per cent target one, three and five years ahead, the tankan showed, suggesting that conditions for raising Japan's still-low interest rates were falling into place.