Business confidence among large Japanese companies fell to a record low in the January-March quarter, reflecting surges in crude oil and other raw materials prices as well as heightened uncertainty surrounding the global economy, a government poll showed Monday.
The index of business conditions at companies capitalized at ¥1 billion or more sank from 0.5 in the previous quarter to minus 9.3 on an all-industry basis, entering negative territory for the first time in three quarters, according to the survey jointly conducted by the Cabinet Office and Finance Ministry.
The reading was the lowest since the government started compiling statistics for the quarterly poll in the April-June period in 2004, a Finance Ministry official said.