ECONOMY – 7

The Bank of Japan's decision on Tuesday to continue "powerful monetary easing" but to also allow long-term interest rates to move in a wider band reflects the dilemma faced by Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. (Nikkei)

The influx of cash into Japan's biggest banks and their parking of such money at the Bank of Japan are putting large commercial banks on the verge of having to pay the central bank interest on deposits there for the first time in two years. (Nikkei)

Vegetable prices have spiked as much as 65 percent amid a grueling two-week long heat wave that drove temperatures Wednesday to records in some regions, including areas where recovery and cleanup efforts are underway after devastating floods and landslides. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is putting in motion a plan to allow more foreign workers into Japan from next April. (NHK)

One of Japan’s top policymakers has indicated that the government will continue to resist U.S. efforts to create a bilateral free trade agreement between the two nations. (Japan Times)

Negotiators for the 11 signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership have agreed to work toward launching the free trade pact early next year. They also assented to preparing for future membership expansion. (NHK)

The head of the International Monetary Fund says economic growth has started slowing in Japan and the euro zone. (NHK)

Many retailers and consumers in Japan are welcoming the free trade pact with the European Union. They are expecting it to lower prices for a range of gourmet products and provide a boost to the economy. (NHK)

More than three-quarters of Japanese women of prime age to start families are now in the workforce, signaling a break from the long-running trend of mothers quitting jobs to care for newborn babies. (Nikkei)

Japan's government is counting on foreign workers to ease the labor shortage in a range of industries. (NHK)