Japan's Household Financial Assets Fall to 5-Year Low

Tokyo, June 17 (Jiji Press)--Financial assets held by Japanese
households at the end of March fell 3.7 pct from a year before to a
five-year low of 1,410 trillion yen, hit by a plunge in stock prices amid
the global financial crisis, Bank of Japan data showed Wednesday.
Japanese household financial assets fell for the six straight
quarter.
At the end of March, the key Nikkei stock average stood at 8,109,
down 35.2 pct year on year.
Against this backdrop, stockholdings and capital contributions by
the household sector plunged 33.5 pct and investment trusts fell 25.1 pct,
the BOJ said in a quarterly report.
By contrast, cash and bank deposits increased 1.4 pct, reflecting
household moves to shift their assets to safer financial products.
The BOJ said that in view of the recent recovery of stock prices,
stockholdings, capital contributions and investment trusts are expected to
push up household financial assets at the end of June.
The BOJ report also showed that financial liabilities of
private-sector nonfinancial business corporations declined 6.5 pct to stand
at 802 trillion yen at the end of March, the lowest level in 20 years.
Corporate and trade credit such as accounts payable fell 24.9 pct
as companies cut back on commercial transactions due to concerns over the
credit risks of business partners.