Almost half of Japan's major firms believe the economy is showing signs of slowing down, amid concerns about global oil prices and the US economy, a survey released yesterday said.
Forty percent of businesses cited slowdowns, up 17 percentage points from its previous survey in September, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said.
The survey was conducted by the daily late last month and covered 214 major companies.
Thirteen percent surveyed said Japan's economic expansion was already over, while 49 percent predicted it would end by this December.
Some 70 percent said they were concerned about a surge in the price of oil and other raw materials, while 61 percent regarded the prospects for the US economy as a negative factor for Japan's economy, the survey said.
Crude oil hit US$100 a barrel for the second straight day on Thursday.
Surging oil prices are piling pressure on the US economy, already weakened by a horrific housing slump, adding to a raft of signals of looming recession in the world's largest economy.
In a separate survey released by the Mainichi Shimbun yesterday, some 58 percent of major Japanese companies said the nation's economy is still expanding gradually, down from 83 percent a year ago.
Eleven percent said the economy would worsen over the next 12 months, up from six percent in the previous survey, which was carried out late last month, covering 120 Japanese firms.
The Bank of Japan may slash the economic growth forecast for the fiscal year to as low as 1.3 percent from its current 1.8 percent, a paper reported this week.
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