JAPAN

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With a population of 121 million and a forecasted GDP of $4,186bn in 2025,Japan is a large advanced economy, offering high income per capita and a substantial positive net foreign asset position—estimated NIIP at ≈80% of GDP in 2023, one of the largest globally. The current account remained in surplus (~3.4% of GDP in 2023), supported by substantial investment income from foreign assets.
However, Japan’s public debt ratio is exceptionally high, with gross government debt at ≈234.9 % of GDP at end of March 2025 (slightly declining from 258 % in 2020), and fiscal deficits narrowing but still averaging 6–7 % of GDP in recent years. Debt remains the highest among major economies.
While Japan retains fiscal credibility, household and corporate sector balance sheets face stress from demographic decline and low productivity. The economy has struggled with secular stagnation: annual real GDP growth averaged only ~0.75% over the past decade, and younger workers’ wages have remained stagnant.
Recent policy shifts—ending negative interest rates and achieving near‑balance in fiscal accounts in early 2025—have created cautious optimism. Public debt fell modestly to ≈235% in 2025, while nominal deficits declined. Nonetheless, sustained progress hinges on structural reforms in labor markets, fertility policy, and innovation to boost productivity and maintain solvency. 

Growth is projected at around 0.9% in 2025, close to 1% through 2026.

Summary

BNP Paribas has been present in Japan since 1867 with over 800 BNP Paribas specialists based in the Tokyo headquarters. The bank offers domestic and cross-border cash and liquidity management services and international trade finance solutions to both Japanese corporations and multinational corporations with a presence in Japan.

Currency

  • Japanese yen (JPY).

Bank accounts

  • A company is considered resident in Japan if its principal or head office is located in the country, with the exception of companies considered resident in countries with which Japan has a double-tax treaty.

BNP Paribas Cash Management Capabilities

Cash collections
Cheque collections
Direct debit collections
Domestic incoming transfers
Virtual IBAN
Virtual accounts
International incoming transfers
Card acquiring

Payments & collections

There is a strong preference for cash in Japan; government statistics indicate that it has a cashless ratio below 20% versus 96% in South Korea, for example. The government has set a target of doubling the percentage of cashless payments by 2025 to reduce the country’s dependency on cash. Most recently, it has proposed reforms that would enable companies to pay salaries digitally.

MoneyTap is a P2P cash transfer app and enables real-time settlement for domestic payments in JPY or foreign currency 24/7/365 via a bank account, phone number or QR code. In 2020, the volume and value of e-money transactions decreased 5.0% to 5,923 million on 2019. Value increased 4.9% to JPY 6.0 trillion.

Electronic banking services are available from all banks. There is no national electronic banking standard in Japan, so companies use banks’ proprietary services.

Companies use Answer Network System for Electronic Requests (ANSER) to see balance records across a variety of bank accounts. Zengin can then be used to initiate domestic and foreign-currency transfers between these accounts. Foreign companies sometimes operate separate electronic banking systems due to the difficulty in translating characters used in Japanese data to a readable format.

Short term investments

Interest payable on credit balances

  • Interest-bearing current accounts are permitted although rare. It is possible to sweep surplus balances into interest-bearing overnight accounts.

Demand deposits

  • Demand deposits denominated in JPY or major foreign currencies are available for terms ranging from overnight to one year.

Time deposits

  • Time deposits are available in JPY or major foreign currencies for terms ranging from one month to ten years.

Certificates of deposit

  • Domestic banks issue certificates of deposit with terms ranging from overnight to five years. Terms of three months are most common.
  • Certificates of deposit are issued paying fixed interest.

Treasury (government) bills

  • The Japanese government issues Treasury bills to corporations through bi-monthly auctions for terms of three, six and 12 months.
  • T-bills of JPY 10,000 are issued to retail investors with a three-year fixed-rate, five-year fixed-rate and ten-year floating-rate.

Commercial paper

  • Domestic commercial paper is issued by companies for terms of up to one year. Terms of three months are most common.
  • The minimum investment amount is JPY 100 million.

Money market funds

  • Domestic money market funds are popular short-term investment instruments.

Repurchase agreements

  • Repurchase agreements with maturities ranging from overnight to one week are commonly available to companies.
  • The use of ‘gensaki’ repos is increasing. Gensaki transactions are available for any maturity dates up to one year, but most agreements are within three months or less.

Banker's acceptances

  • Banker's acceptances are not used in Japan.

BNP Paribas Trade Finance Capabilities

Documentary credits
Documentary collections

International trade

  • As a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Japan has agreed to liberalise trade and investment rules between member states.