Abe urges Japanese firms to pass along benefits of Abenomics via higher basic pay

Tokyo

PRIME Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese government ministers went on the offensive on Thursday, urging employers to raise workers' wages in order to pass on the benefits these bosses have reaped from Abenomics in the form of fatter profits and the promised cut in corporate tax.

Their calls came as the Tokyo stock market rose to its highest level in seven years on the back of hopes for improved corporate performance, and as the yen fell to under 120 to the dollar - its lowest in more than a month - promising further gains in firms' export profitability.

Thursday also brought news that firms' core machinery orders jumped by 8.3 per cent last December from the preceding m…