The combined debts of companies that went bust in the first half of 2000 came to 6.95 trillion yen, down 24.2 percent from a year earlier but the second-largest figure for a first-half period in postwar Japan, a major credit research agency said Friday.
The record for a first half was set in 1999, when the figure was 9.17 trillion yen, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said in a report covering bankruptcies with liabilities of 10 million yen or more.
There were a total of 9,304 bankruptcies recorded in the first half of 2000, the fourth-largest figure for any first half since 1945. The figure was up 32.2 percent over the corresponding period of 1999.