Japanese capital investment up for 16th straight quarter
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
TOKYO, June 4 (AFP): Japanese firms raised their capital investment in new plant and equipment by 13.6 per cent in the three months to March compared with a year earlier, up for a 16th straight quarter, a government survey showed today.
Analysts said the results of the survey, which excludes financial firms, suggested Japan's first-quarter economic growth is likely to be revised up slightly from a preliminary estimate of a 2.4 per cent annualised pace.
Spending by Japanese companies on new plant and machinery has been a key pillar in the nation's economic recovery after a slump stretching back over a decade, helping to offset subdued consumer spending.
Companies also saw a 7.4 per cent average rise in current profits in the three months to March compared with a year earlier, a 19th straight positive quarter, according to the survey of 24,148 firms published by the finance ministry.
The results are the last piece of information used to calculate the revised gross domestic product figures for the first quarter which will be released next week.
In its preliminary estimate, the government said the economy had grown by 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year.
That figure now looks set to be revised up to 0.7 per cent, predicted Takuji Aida, chief economist for Barclays Capital in Tokyo.
Weaker corporate capital spending was one of the biggest drags on growth in the first quarter in the initial GDP report, falling by 0.9 per cent compared wi the three months to December.
Analysts said the results of the survey, which excludes financial firms, suggested Japan's first-quarter economic growth is likely to be revised up slightly from a preliminary estimate of a 2.4 per cent annualised pace.
Spending by Japanese companies on new plant and machinery has been a key pillar in the nation's economic recovery after a slump stretching back over a decade, helping to offset subdued consumer spending.
Companies also saw a 7.4 per cent average rise in current profits in the three months to March compared with a year earlier, a 19th straight positive quarter, according to the survey of 24,148 firms published by the finance ministry.
The results are the last piece of information used to calculate the revised gross domestic product figures for the first quarter which will be released next week.
In its preliminary estimate, the government said the economy had grown by 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year.
That figure now looks set to be revised up to 0.7 per cent, predicted Takuji Aida, chief economist for Barclays Capital in Tokyo.
Weaker corporate capital spending was one of the biggest drags on growth in the first quarter in the initial GDP report, falling by 0.9 per cent compared wi the three months to December.