TOKYO: Confidence at big Japanese manufacturers worsened in January-March as a slumping yen ramped up the costs of raw material imports, a survey showed, complicating Tokyo’s stimulus-driven campaign to revive the economy.
The quarterly poll by the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Office released today suggests the drawbacks of a weak yen may be outweighing its benefits, which have not spread to broader sectors of the economy.
The loss of confidence comes as the Bank of Japan remains committed to its massive monetary easing programme even as the US Federal Reserve moves closer to raising interest rates, triggering a renewed slide in the yen.
The yen skidded to 8-year lows against the dollar.
