BOJ's Nakaso: companies avoiding higher labor costs by reducing hours
Reuters
Published Jul 25, 2017 10:06PM ET
BOJ's Nakaso: companies avoiding higher labor costs by reducing hours
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso said on Wednesday that wages have been slow to rise because some companies in the services sector are shortening their business hours instead of hiring more workers.
Wage growth also has been capped as some companies invest in labor-saving technology, such as self-checkout machines, Nakaso said in a speech to business leaders in Hiroshima, western Japan.
However, Nakaso said there was a limit to how far companies can cut operating hours, noting that the BOJ's most recent tankan survey showed some services-sector companies are leaning toward raising prices in the future.
The BOJ last week kept monetary policy steady but once again pushed back the timing for achieving its ambitious inflation target, reinforcing views it will lag well behind other major central banks in scaling back its massive stimulus program.
The BOJ has postponed the 2 percent price target time frame six times since Governor Haruhiko Kuroda launched his huge asset-buying program in 2013.
Japan's core consumer prices rose just 0.4 percent in May from a year earlier.
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Written By: Reuters
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