JAPAN

Savings Growth Rate Is at Record Low: The country’s savings grew by a record-low 6.5% in 1991, the government said last week, fueling anxiety that the foundation of the nation’s postwar economic boom is eroding. The Bank of Japan said it was the second straight year that savings grew at a record-low pace. In 1990 savings grew by 7.7%. “Japan’s high savings rate has been one of the most important aspects of Japan’s postwar economy,” said Chiharu Shima, economist at UBS Phillips and Drew International Ltd. Fears are mounting that lower savings will constrain investment needed for economic growth. Japan, which saved about 20% of disposable income in the mid-1970s, has traditionally had a much higher savings rate than the United States. That has given Japan the capital to build what has become the second largest economy in the world. Economists for years have said that the United States needs to boost its savings rate of 5.3% if it hopes to have funds for investment in a more competitive world. The savings rate is the percentage of disposable income devoted to savings.