Abenomics is not faring as well as hoped

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, January 28, 2016. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday he wants the new economy minister, Nobuteru Ishihara, to continue the government's efforts to push through structural reforms. [Photo/Agencies]

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said at a seminar in Tokyo on March 7 that negative interest rates would have a "very powerful" stimulus effect on the economy by driving down borrowing costs and nudging firms into boosting investment.

However, things are not faring well.

Although Abenomics has produced some results, including record corporate earnings and the highest levels of employment in a quarter of a century, Japan's companies are sitting on more than 340 trillion yen ($2.9 trillion), and they have shied away from raising wages or making sizable investments in Japan. Instead, they are buying back their own shares. Thomson Reuters data show that companies took advantage of the low prices to buy back a total $9.3 billion in shares in February alone, the highest since Nov 2010.

And Japanese investors are scooping up bonds overseas following the Bank of Japan's negative rate policy, which pushed 10-year yields in the country to as low as minus 0.1 percent.

And the prospects for more consumption are not optimistic.

The central bank is relying on higher wages to boost consumption and drive inflation toward its 2 percent goal.

But price-adjusted wages fell 0.9 percent last year, the fourth straight decline.

The growing uncertainties over the economy have discouraged Japan's companies from offering significant wage hikes that are vital for more consumer spending.

And although employers and unions usually negotiate annual wage hikes in spring, trade unions across Japan's financial sector are not requesting wage hikes this year. The unions at Japan's leading insurers have also decided not to demand increases in basic pay.