Erica Yokoyama

Japan's holdings of foreign securities fell sharply in May, a sign that the government may have tapped overseas assets, including U.S.

The yen’s weakness has become a growing issue for Japan’s policymakers, given its impact on import prices and household costs.

Japan is currently undergoing the greatest budgetary reform process since the end of World War II, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.

Japan likely drew on its holdings of foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, to finance its record currency-market intervention over the past month, a move that may draw attention from Washington.

Japan’s small firms, which employ the bulk of the nation’s company employees, may have trouble sustaining wage growth as the Middle East conflict drives up input costs and squeezes profit margins, putting a key pillar of growth at risk.

Japan’s corporate goods prices jumped again in May, signaling strengthening inflationary pressures rippling across domestic supply chains as the war in Iran drags on and keeps energy prices elevated.

Japan's small firms, which employ the bulk of the nation's company employees, may have trouble sustaining wage growth as the Middle East conflict

Corporate goods prices jumped again in May, signaling strengthening inflationary pressures rippling across domestic supply chains as the war in Iran drags on and keeps energy prices elevated.

Japan’s key inflation gauge held steady in May thanks in part to government subsidies that kept energy costs down, keeping the Bank of Japan on track for another rate hike later this year.

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government can take bold action against speculative moves, as the yen trades not far from the weakest level in four decades.