The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan rose for the second straight month in March, a research firm said, warning that a number of small firms are still under deflation pressure. March saw 848 cases of bankruptcies leaving liabilities of at least 10 million yen (US$85,000) each, or more, across the nation, up 9.1% from 777 in February, Teikoku Databank said in a monthly report.
Combined liabilities left by collapsed firms last month jumped 45.7% from February to 473.96 billion yen.
"While major companies are on course to recovery thanks to the nation's economic pick-up, many small and medium-sized firms especially in local regions are still struggling to fight the impact of the lingering deflation," a research official said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
