Japanese Bankruptcies Soar in January

Battered by a painful economic slowdown, more Japanese companies went bankrupt in January than in any month since World War II, a credit research agency said. The number of insolvencies skyrocketed 24.8% to 1,502 in January from the same month last year, but debts left behind dropped 4.6% to $5.5 billion, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd. The Japanese government has declared the economy stagnant, and financial institutions are suffering under mounting debts. The number of bankruptcies in 1997 reached an 11-year high. In January, insolvencies rose in all sectors except transportation and communications. Construction and manufacturing were particularly hard hit, Teikoku said.