South Africa, on the other hand, has about 90% of its public debt denominated in its domestic currency, while 10% is held in foreign currency. However, a large proportion of this debt is held by foreigners.
This is because firms, in spite of improved profits, have given priority to repaying debts in order to improve their balance sheets, or have limited their gross fixed investment to the amount of cash flow generated from depreciation of existing facilities. Intensified competition with other Asian countries, which has brought changes to the international environment, is also affecting the Japanese economy in various ways.