BIS Review 162/2010  5  Bearing in mind the future for Japan’s economy, it is vital to create an environment that enables firms – from a medium- to long-term perspective – to show their “animal spirits” and willingness to meet challenges head on in order to achieve both greater competitiveness that could lead to higher productivity and create new value added.
Not surprisingly, the prices data reflect the particular composition of aggregate demand that has been witnessed over recent times. In parts of the resources sector, costs remain under upward pressure, with very strong demand for some intermediate inputs and for a range of occupations, predominately in engineering and science, but also in accounting, legal and human resources.