Japan Economics Update Consumption tax strategy leaves credibility in doubt The Japanese government looks set to press ahead with the hike in the consumption tax as planned next year, albeit with some offsetting increases in public spending and cuts in corporate taxes. This... 13th September 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Olympics likely to be an economic non-event Tokyo’s hosting of the 2020 Olympic Games is unlikely to provide any material contribution to economic growth in Japan. Overall spending on the Games will be small and focused on sporting facilities... 10th September 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan reiterates support for consumption tax hikes Governor Kuroda today underlined the Bank of Japan’s view – already reflected in its economic forecasts – that the planned consumption tax hikes will neither derail the recovery nor prevent inflation... 5th September 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update More is needed to encourage women to work Higher female participation could eventually provide a small but welcome boost to the potential growth rate of the Japanese economy. However, the government’s pledge to improve the availability of... 28th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Raising the official retirement age may have little impact Japan's adverse demographics and huge public debt are strengthening the pressure for labour market reforms that could both lift economic growth and save the government money. However, raising the... 26th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jul.) The tentative signs of acceleration in the June money supply figures turned out to be a false dawn. In July, most money supply measures expanded at the slowest pace in several months on a m/m basis... 22nd August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Options for the consumption tax Japan’s government could still decide to delay the consumption tax hike scheduled for April 2014. The damage to credibility may be lessened if the economy is clearly too weak and a sensible... 14th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Case for corporate tax cuts appears irresistible Even without the need to mitigate the impact of the planned doubling of the consumption tax, the arguments for lowering Japan’s relatively high corporate tax rates would be very strong. But with a... 13th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Business investment turning up Capital spending has lagged well behind the recovery in the rest of Japan’s economy, but it should now start to make a decent contribution to growth from the third quarter onwards. In turn, this may... 13th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update What do the Q2 GDP data mean for the consumption tax? Last week India appointed Raghuram Rajan, a former chief economist at the IMF, as the new governor of the Reserve Bank (RBI). The new governor takes over at a tricky time, with India’s economy... 12th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan may still have to ease further The Bank of Japan’s decision today to refrain from any additional easing on top of that already planned reflects the Board’s conviction that the measures taken so far are working. But with signs... 8th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Trans-Pacific Partnership talks to test PM Abe’s resolve Japan’s formal entry into negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) today is only the first step on a long road. Indeed, the talks are likely to drag on well into next year, and perhaps... 23rd July 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Nuclear energy restart not a game changer A partial resumption of nuclear energy generation is unlikely to reduce Japan’s trade deficit meaningfully. Electricity prices could fall slightly, but are likely to remain very high compared to... 16th July 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jun.) There are now some tentative signs that broad money supply is responding to the Bank of Japan’s more aggressive easing. Since April the broadest money measure has increased at the fastest pace in y/y... 15th July 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Time to shift the focus to “core-core” inflation? Media reports suggest that the Japanese government plans to focus increasingly on the CPI excluding food and energy when gauging progress towards overcoming deflation. We do not expect this to make... 11th July 2013 · 1 min read
