INTERVIEW: Japan Biz Leader Urges Govt to Support Small Firms

Tokyo, Jan. 3 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese business leader has called on the government to take measures to support small companies, which face an increasingly tough business environment.

In an interview with media organizations including Jiji Press, Ken Kobayashi, head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that small companies have been forced to raise wages beyond their capacity to pay amid labor shortages and rising prices.

The government and the Bank of Japan need to put into place measures to curb price rises, such as correcting the yen's depreciation, he said.

The Japanese economy is expected to "grow moderately this year on the back of continued pay hikes and robust corporate capital spending," Kobayashi said.

Meanwhile, small firms' material procurement costs are rising due to the yen's decline, he noted. The yen's depreciation is "a major factor behind inflation," Kobayashi said, adding, "I want corporate managers' sense of helplessness to be dispelled."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]