Japan firms struggle to lift prices two years into Abenomics -Reuters poll

TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Two thirds of Japanese companies plan to hold back on raising prices of products and services this year, a Reuters poll showed, underscoring the difficulty of defeating deflation despite two years of bold monetary policy and economic stimulus.

Toyota profit nearly doubles to $17.8bn

Japanese carmaker Toyota has seen its profits nearly double, boosted by the yen's weakness and cost cutting. It made a net profit of 1.82 trillion yen ($17.8bn; £10.5bn) in the year to 31 March, up from 962bn yen a year ago.

Japan Companies Say Recovery to Survive Higher Tax, Poll Shows

More than 80 percent of large Japanese companies expect the nation’s economic recovery to survive Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned sales tax increase in April, according to a survey by the Mainichi newspaper.