Japanese corporate bankruptices decline

Associated Press

TOKYO — The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan for October fell 23.3 percent from the same month a year ago as government assistance prevented small companies from collapsing, a private research agency said Monday.

Corporate bankruptcies for the month totaled 1,064, the lowest this year and the 22nd straight month that the total has dropped compared with a year ago, Tokyo-based Teikoku Databank Ltd. said.

The drop was not wholely due to economic recovery because government programs helped lower the number of failures, Teikoku said.

Debts left behind by collapsing companies fell 20 percent from a year earlier to 680.4 billion yen ($6.4 billion), it said.