Bankruptcies in Japan fell about 5 per cent in the last business year, according to independent research firm Teikoku Databank, as a mild economic recovery and banks' reluctance to cut off ailing firms helped limit failures.
Teikoku Databank warned that the stock market's plunge to 20-year lows could cause a spike in bankruptcies in the new business year, but some economists say that is unlikely given the political fallout.
Teikoku said the number of bankruptcies dropped 5.6 per cent to 18,928 in the year to 31 March, the fourth highest level in the post-war period, with total debts of failed firms down 17.5 per cent at 13.31 trillion yen (US$110.3bn).
The annual trend was reflected in March, when bankruptcy cases fell 1.1 per cent on the month to 1,568, down 12.3 per cent from the same month in the previous year.
