TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) – A business lobby representing small and midsize firms urged the government to address inflation, including the yen’s weakness, saying this was essential to achieving real wage growth, its chief said on Tuesday.
“Momentum for wage hikes this year has been very strong at our member firms this year,” driven by labour shortages that are leaving many companies with little choice but to raise pay, Ken Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told a news conference.
Still, inflation must be contained within the pace of wage increases to achieve real wage growth, Kobayashi said.
“We want the government to tackle sources of inflation, including the weak yen,” he said.
Japan’s core consumer prices rose 3% in November from a year earlier, staying above the central bank’s 2% target for a 44th month.
Yoshinobu Tsutsui, head of Japan’s biggest business lobby Keidanren, said at the briefing he hoped to see wage increases continue over multiple years.
He said he hoped for an environment where consumers would accept moderate price rises that could help offset rising labour costs.
“Achieving a positive cycle between wages and prices means that wages rise and prices also increase at a moderate pace,” Tsutsui said.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Miho UranakaEditing by Bernadette Baum)
