Japanese bankruptcies hit six-year high: survey

TOKYO: Japanese corporate bankruptcies surged to a six-year high last month as more than 1,500 firms collapsed under the weight of a deepening recession, a survey showed.

Bankruptcies rose 14.1 percent in March, marking a 10th straight year-on-year increase, Tokyo Shoko Research said.

Some 1,537 companies collapsed with debts of 10 million yen or more each, the most since March 2003, the figures showed.

"Bankruptcies increased even though the government has launched measures to help cash strapped companies," said Masashi Seki, an official at the research firm.

"This tells us that the economy is deteriorating rapidly and that the business environment is very severe," Seki told AFP.

Japanese companies have been badly hurt by recession in major markets including the United States, Europe and Japan.

Last month 283 manufacturing companies went bankrupt as export demand plunged amid a global economic crisis. In the IT sector, a record 63 companies went under as orders dried up.

Together the failed companies left debts of 1.08 trillion yen ($10 billion), the eighth highest such figure in the post-war era.