MNI DATA BRIEF: Japan Corp Loan Demand Drops: BOJ Survey

Demand for financing by Japanese corporates via bank loans fell in July as some companies paid debts back after they had attempted to pre-emptively increase funds, according to the BOJ's latest 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 -- stood at -11 in July, down from +9 in April.

The latest survey period was from June 9 to July 8, before the latest state of emergency measures.

The index for demand from large companies fell to -11 from -2 and the index for smaller businesses also fell to -12 from +10 in April. The index for fund demand expected for the next three months stood at -1, falling from +5 in the previous survey, indicating that firms don't expect their financing to worsen.

Household demand for funds stood at +4 in July, down from +7 in April due to the decreases of housing investment and consumer spending in addition to increased income.