Reuters latest corporate survey

  • 37% saying the target would take more than three years to achieve
  • 31% saying it was not feasible at all
  • Compared to October when the same question was asked in the monthly survey, the number of firms believing it was impossible saw a 5% uptick although the number saying it was achievable within three years also saw a 5% rise
  • only 14% of firms want the Bank of Japan to go further with monetary easing
  • 46% want it to stand pat with current policy
  • 40% said they would prefer that the central bank sought some sort of exit from its ultra-easy stance

Firms were split when asked about their overall satisfaction with the central bank's policies to date

  • 52% saying they were satisfied
  • remainder saying they were unhappy
  • On the 2% inflation goal itself, 53% said it should be maintained, 20% believed it should be lowered and 24% said it should be ditched altogether

Three-quarters of firms had no plans to lift prices of their main goods and services this financial year

  • two-thirds saying their labour costs rose in the past year
  • When asked about how they planned to cope with higher labour costs, the most popular option - picked by 42 percent of firms - was "doing nothing in particular" - a choice that could squeeze profits
  • Thirty percent said they planned to invest in labour-saving technologies
  • 27 percent said they would review their corporate structure and employee training
  • 15 percent opted for price hikes of their goods and services

(Respondents were allowed multiple responses to the question.)

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Reuters Corporate Survey:

  • Conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research
  • August 1-16
  • Polled 548 big and mid-sized firms that reply on condition of anonymity
  • 244-250 companies answered questions about BOJ policy

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Maybe Kuroda needs to wear this t-shirt to his next presser:

"Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

Muhammad Ali