Support measures push Japanese corporate bankruptcies to 50 year low

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan fell at the fastest rate this year to hit the lowest in 50 years for a July. A private-sector credit research firm thanked to funding support from the government and banks. There were 476 company bankruptcies in July, down 40% from the same month a year ago. This is shown in the Tokyo Shoko Research, by pointing to government help for corporate financing amid a resurgence of this pandemic.

That was less than the previous July low of 482 in 1990, during the peak of Japan’s asset bubble economy. And that is said based on comparable data available since 1972. The credit firm said that it was the lowest corporate bankruptcy total in 50 years for the month of July. This is with the amount of liabilities at 71.5 billion yen ($647 million) down 30% from a year earlier. But this pandemic-induced bankruptcy amounted to 138 in July, compared with 98 in the same month a year ago. And that brought the total for January-July to 900, above the roughly 800 recorded in February-December 2020. With the prolonged pandemic undermining corporate financing, analysts don’t expect bankruptcies to remain low indefinitely.