JAPAN

Corporations Struggle With Excess Inventory: The Ministry of Finance said the country’s economic outlook is darker than expected, citing results of a survey of 280 major corporations. Vice Minister Mamoru Ozaki said 25% of manufacturers expect to continue to have excess inventory in fiscal 1993. The ministry had previously taken the position that the inventory adjustment process at most companies would be completed by late summer or early autumn. Although 66% of the large companies surveyed think that they will be able to work off excess inventory by the end of the year, only 27% of small and mid-sized companies share this view, the vice minister said. As to capital spending, 43% of the respondents said spending in the current fiscal year, which began April 1, will be lower than it was in fiscal 1991, Ozaki said.