Tokyo  - The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan fell in October for the third month in a row, a credit research agency said Tuesday.

The 1,261 bankruptcies represented an 11.7-per-cent fall from the same month a year earlier, Shoko Research said, attributing the decline to government economic stimulus measures, including loan guarantees.

Total debt of the bankrupt firms fell sharply, by 71.1 per cent to 290.3 billion yen (3.23 billion dollars), while the number of the firms with debts of more than 10 billion yen sank from 12 to two, Shoko said. (dpa)