Roughly half of Japanese companies think the government should take more steps to curb the impact of soaring prices as they bear the brunt of higher energy and material costs, partly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a weaker yen, according to a recent survey by a credit research firm.
Asked about the kind of economic measures they want the government to focus on, 50.8 percent of the companies selected financial support, gasoline tax cuts and purchase cost subsidies in the multiple response survey conducted by Teikoku Databank.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to swiftly help households and companies combat rising bills, a major issue in the House of Councillors election earlier this month.
Kishida told a press conference Thursday the government plans to use part of around 5.5 trillion yen ($40 billion) in reserve funds to that end.
Among a total of 22 choices in the survey, measures to help boost consumer spending and secure a stable power supply were selected by 43.1 percent and 42.4 percent of the respondents, respectively.
By sector, 72.7 percent of transportation and warehouse firms that typically struggle with higher crude oil prices selected the response calling for government measures to deal with that issue.
With the yen having rapidly depreciated against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies, 28.2 percent expressed the hope that the government would tackle changes in foreign exchange rates, according to the online survey conducted across the country between July 1 and 4 that received 1,926 valid responses.
Among the respondents, an official at a construction metal products maker said, the government needs to "make efforts on more fundamental policies, rather than superficial subsidies and tax cuts."
"The government should promote growth strategies from a medium- and long-term perspective, such as support measures aimed at raising wages, improving productivity and making (domestic firms) more internationally competitive," the Teikoku Databank report said in its conclusion.
