Politics Shinzo Abe

TOKYO, April 19- More than 60 percent of Japanese companies want authorities to go ahead with a sales tax hike in October, but feel that additional government spending is needed to cushion the blow on the economy, a Reuters monthly poll showed. Speculation lingers that Japan will once again delay raising the tax to 10 percent from 8 percent, even though Prime...

President Donald Trump at the White House on April 26 to discuss trade and efforts to contain North Korea's nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. Japan's foreign and defense ministers will meet with their U.S. counterparts in Washington on Friday, the U.S. State Department said. Trump has touted his good relationship with Abe, which has seen closer...

WASHINGTON, April 16- The United States has raised concerns over its "very large" trade deficit with Japan in the first round of negotiations between the two nations on a new bilateral trade deal. No agreement was reached on individual issues after two days of discussions, Japan's economy minister said, but the two sides discussed trade issues focusing on goods,...

Trump has made clear he is unhappy with Japan's $68 billion trade surplus with the United States- much of it from auto exports- and wants a two-way agreement to address it. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said over the weekend he sees good cooperation with Japan on exchange rates, looking to include a currency provision in any trade agreement to avoid currency...

The UK overtook the United States, holder of the top spot since 2014, which was followed by Germany, China and France, according to EY, an accountancy firm which conducted the survey. The EY survey showed China returned to the top five investment destinations for the next 12 months despite concerns about its trade war with the United States. The United States was a...

LONDON, April 15- British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt will on Monday seek to reassure Japanese carmaker Toyota that the government is focused on avoiding a no-deal exit from the European Union and ensuring tariff-tree trade between Britain and the EU. Hunt will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Toyota representatives during a visit to Japan that...

WASHINGTON, April 13- Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on Saturday pledged to global finance leaders that Tokyo will forge ahead with a scheduled sales tax hike in October, even as weakening global growth darkened the outlook for the export-reliant economy. The premier has repeatedly said the hike will proceed this time unless Japan is hit by a shock to the...

WASHINGTON, April 11- Japan should increase fiscal spending, instead of putting off a scheduled sales tax hike or expanding monetary stimulus, if risks to the economy materialise, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Thursday. Odd Per Brekk, deputy director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific department, said Japan is likely to avert a recession...

TOKYO, April 8- Japan appears to have dodged a thanks to resilient business spending but tanking factory and export sectors and a lack of policy options leave it particularly vulnerable if a projected recovery in the global economy fails to materialize. While the chances of such actions are small, they cannot be ruled out given Japan's exposure to economic...

TOKYO, April 5- Japan's coincident indicator index improved for the first time in four months in February and the government kept its view to say the economy is at "a turning point," government data showed on Friday. Calculated from a range of data including factory output, employment and retail sales, the index, along with other data, will be assessed...

TOKYO, April 5- Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday mergers could be one option for the country's regional banks- struggling with squeezed profits amid prolonged low interest rates- to improve financial services. Aso, who also serves as minister overseeing the financial services watchdog, made the comment days after an advisory panel to Prime...

*Shareholder activism slowly catching on in Japan. Market activism has historically been low-key in Japan but a drive by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get investors to be more assertive in their demands for shareholder value has slowly changed this. "There have always been skeptical views that' hostile' activism can't be as successful in Japan as it is in the...

TOKYO, April 1- Japan's business mood slumped to a two-year low in the March quarter, a central bank survey showed, underscoring concerns that Sino-U.S. trade tensions and softening global demand were taking a toll on the export-reliant economy. Separately on Monday, a private business showed manufacturing activity in Japan contracted for a second straight...

TOKYO, March 29- Japan's factory output expanded for the first time in four months in February, though the rebound was relatively weak and the overall outlook for the sector and businesses suggested a record postwar economic growth phase may be coming to an end. The rising pressure on the economy was further underlined by a weak outcome for retail sales, meaning...

*Japan must help stabilize global economy as G20 chair- advisers. TOKYO, March 27- Japanese policymakers vowed on Wednesday to raise the sales tax to 10 percent as planned in October, following the passage in parliament of the budget bill for the next fiscal year beginning next month. Speculation lingers among market players that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may...