Business fixed investment has been picking up on the whole, including the manufacturing sector, which had been lagging behind. Going forward, business fixed investment is likely to follow a moderate increasing trend against the backdrop of an improvement in corporate profits and the effects of monetary easing.
In the context of investment profitability, profitability from business fixed investment is likely to improve and the extent of the monetary easing stimulus to encourage investment is likely to strengthen, owing to a rise in the rate of return on capital due to economic recovery combined with the decline in real interest rates mainly reflecting a rise in inflation expectations.