Japan's corporate debt below 100 tril. yen

The debt totaled 97 trillion yen (US$866 billion, euro724 billion) at the end of March, down 7 trillion yen (US$62.5 million, euro52.2 million) from a year earlier and down 24 percent from the peak in 1997, the business daily said, citing its own survey of 1,181 companies. The trend indicates companies are both repaying debts and increasing the amount of cash they have on hand, with one-third of the polled companies being completely debt free, the report said.