Few Japanese firms are considering cutting prices of their main goods and services in the latter half of this year, whereas most would go ahead with price hikes or keep them unchanged, the poll showed.
"We are preparing to negotiate with customers to raise prices," a manager of a pulp and paper company wrote in the survey on condition of anonymity.The June 30-July 9 survey, which canvassed 503 big and midsize non-financial corporations garnering 240 replies, found 15% of firms were able to pass on raw materials costs to customers and 46% would consider following suit, while 39% were unable to do so.
Two-thirds of firms saw rising global commodity costs putting downward pressure on profit for this fiscal year. Nearly three-fourths of non-financial firms see the BOJ's ultra-low interest rate policy positively affecting their businesses, the Corporate Survey showed.