Looser Business Regulations To Help Drive Nikkei Above 18,000

Japanese stocks could surpass a level not seen since 2007 if the government pushes through in its drive to loosen business regulations, said Heizo Takenaka, a member of a government council on special economic zones.

“Stocks have surged considerably but they can still improve if policies are implemented properly,” Takenaka, 62, said in an interview yesterday in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average “could easily exceed 18,000 in light of Japan’s economic strength,” said Takenaka, who in the early 2000s spearheaded Japan’s response to a banking crisis.

The benchmark index surged 57 percent last year, its biggest annual advance since 1972, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spurred the unleashing of monetary and fiscal stimulus. Parliament last month passed a bill to establish zones in which the government can experiment with deregulation — a pillar of Abe’s growth strategy aimed at invigorating business.

Bloomberg

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