Japan companies kept $68bn of overseas profits abroad

TOKYO — Japanese corporations reinvested 10.57 trillion yen ($67.8 billion) of overseas profits abroad last fiscal year, more than triple the amount a decade earlier, new government data shows.

The shift is seen ramping up medium- to long-term downward pressure on the yen, which is trading at historic lows. In an attempt to reverse the trend, the Japanese government is weighing tax incentives to encourage the repatriation of offshore profit.