The results for business fixed investment suggest that firms on aggregate are expecting their capital investment for fiscal 2006 to have grown by 9.5 percent from a year earlier, its fourth consecutive year of growth. Business fixed investment planned for fiscal 2007 is also at a relatively high level for the time of year, namely, the turning point in the fiscal calendar.
It seems, however, that firms, seeking to boost production capacity so as not to miss the opportunity to increase profits in the global market, are maintaining their cautious scrutiny regarding the profitability of individual investment projects, having become more exposed to the discipline of the capital market. Against this background of growth in domestic and external demand, production is on an upward trend.