Japan Inc. wants Abe election win, but smaller majority – RTRS Survey

Reuters is out with the key findings from its latest corporate survey on Sunday’s Japanese election:

Japan Inc wants Abe election win, but smaller majority

Two-thirds of Japanese firms want Abe to stay, with less power

Companies wary of overconcentration of power after Oct. 22 poll

Many oppose delay to budget balancing, back 2019 sales tax hike

Revising pacifist constitution seen as low priority

The survey suggests corporations want political stability but don't want to hand Abe a landslide victory for fear he might become complacent about reviving the economy

Many companies in the survey expressed concern that a big election win would encourage Abe to invest his energy in a long-held ambition to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, at the expense of economic policy

94 percent of companies hoped Abe's coalition would win the election

48 percent wanted his bloc to obtain a smaller majority

20 percent hoped the ruling camp would retain the 323 seats it held before the lower house was dissolved last month

Seven percent wanted the ruling bloc to win more seats

Meanwhile, the corporate survey was conducted Sept 28 to Oct 12 for Reuters by Nikkei Research.