Who is benefitting from Abenomics?

Abenomics is widely heralded as a boon to Japanese society, but the benefits are not being felt evenly. Companies are reporting healthy profits and business confidence remains strong, while the equity market has soared. However, wage growth remains sluggish and consumer sentiment has weakened. Looking ahead, the Abe government appears set to announce that it is going ahead with next year’s planned consumption tax hike, with an offsetting cut to business tax and other business-friendly measures to soften the economic blow. In that case, the fortunes of firms and households in Japan look likely to continue to diverge.