Plant shutdowns increased more than 50 percent in the first nine months of 2002, the Japanese newspaper Nihom Keizai reported. Worst hit is the production of industrial materials and parts: 39 companies have shut down plants, compared to 18 in the same period in 2001. Some 20,000 corporations went bankrupt last year, marking the second-highest total in Japan since World War II.

The paper reports that the sharp increase in plant closings also "reflects a shift to China by makers of electronics and information and technology who have been facing severe global price competition."

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei stock index has fallen to its lowest level since 1983, and Japanese banks are reeling from nearly half a trillion dollars in uncollectible loans. The International Monetary Fund predicts that Japan’s economy will shrink by half a percentage point in 2002, the worst performance among major capitalist economies.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home