Rate hike to harm the manufacturing sector

Japan's economy is too fragile to withstand interest rate rises in the near future, according to Schroders and Abbey National Asset Management. The vast bulk of Japanese wealth is still tied to land, which is going down in value, the country is wracked by doubts over the speed of corporate restructuring and retail sales figures are still falling year-on-year. Rob Carnell, Asia economist at Schroders, says consumption figures in the country are not great but there are signs the decline is bottoming out. He adds he is pleased the Bank of Japan (BoJ) left rates unchanged although he is f...