MNI BRIEF: Japan's Corporate Loan Demand Rises - BOJ Survey

Demand among Japanese companies for bank loans rose over the past three months as capital investment and sales increased, according to the Bank of Japan’s quarterly survey of senior loan officers at 50 banks released on Monday.

The index for corporate fund demand -- calculated by subtracting the number of banks reporting a decline in lending from the number of those reporting an increase – rose to +5 in October from +3 in July.

The index for expected fund demand for the next three months stood at +8, unchanged from the previous survey, indicating that fund demand will remain firm amid high costs.

The index for demand from large companies stood at +6, up from +4 in July, and the index for smaller businesses stood at +4, also up from +1 in July.

The BOJ in September decided to extend “non-government-supported loans” to smaller firms by six months to the end of March 2023 and “government-supported loans” by three months to the end of this year.