Japan Economics Update Deflation and unemployment need not derail Japan’s recovery The jump in Japan’s unemployment rate from 4.4% to 4.8% in March (consensus 4.6%) removes some of the shine from yesterday’s better manufacturing data. What’s more, unemployment has much further to... 1st May 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Japan on track for early recovery The rise in industrial production in March and projections of further increases in April and May support our view that the Japanese economy could start to grow again as soon as the current quarter... 30th April 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Trade data suggest Japan’s recovery to begin in Q2 Today’s March trade figures allow us to firm up our estimates for Japanese GDP in the first quarter and have an educated guess (with only a little imagination) at the second quarter too. The economy... 22nd April 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Is the sun rising again in Japan? The improvement in consumer confidence reported this morning is consistent with our view that the Japanese economy could start growing again as early as the current quarter. Admittedly, any recovery... 17th April 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan scrapes the bottom of the barrel The Bank of Japan further widened the range of eligible collateral in its money market operations after its Policy Board meeting today, although it is hard to avoid the feeling that it is now scraping... 7th April 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Can Japan afford any more fiscal stimulus (revisited)? Today’s reports that Japan is planning another fiscal stimulus, which will include more than ¥10 trillion (2% of GDP) in additional spending, are little surprise. But they do raise the question of... 6th April 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Japan’s Tankan to signal early recovery? The Bank of Japan’s “Tankan” survey, released next Wednesday (1st April), will doubtless show that business conditions worsened further in the first quarter, but probably not by as much as the markets... 23rd March 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan adds to its armoury Today’s announcement that the Bank of Japan is willing to provide subordinated loans to banks continues the drip-feed of unconventional policy measures it has introduced since October. The latest... 17th March 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Is Japan still a surplus country? We expect Japan to record a deficit this year both on trade in goods and services and on the overall current account balance. This sharp turnaround (from large surpluses in 2007) reflects the double... 9th March 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update A tiny silver lining in Japan’s trade data January’s data all but guarantee that collapsing exports will make another large negative contribution to Japan’s GDP in the first quarter. However, imports have also started to drop back, which means... 25th February 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Japan positioning for a V-shaped recovery We expect next Monday’s preliminary data to show that the Japanese economy contracted by around 3.5% q/q in the fourth quarter of last year (an annualised rate of 15%). However, Japan may well then... 9th February 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan has a lot more work to do The Bank of Japan’s modest programme of asset purchases is unlikely to be the last word, especially given the deterioration in economic and financial conditions acknowledged today in its own forecasts... 22nd January 2009 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan cuts rates to near zero, will buy CP outright The Bank of Japan effectively reverted to a zero interest rate policy today and edged towards quantitative easing, although the embrace of QE is still half-hearted. We are certainly not impressed by... 19th December 2008 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Japanese Tankan could have been a lot worse The Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey of business conditions was not quite as bad as we had feared, but we may just have been a quarter early. The one consolation is that Japan is not alone – other major... 15th December 2008 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Brace for an awful Tankan We expect the headline numbers from the Bank of Japan’s quarterly “Tankan” survey for December, released next Monday, to be even worse than the consensus. Our forecast for the large manufacturers’... 10th December 2008 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan on hold – but not for much longer As widely anticipated, the Bank of Japan left policy rates unchanged today. However, the prospect of outright declines in both economic activity and prices next year suggests that rates are heading... 21st November 2008 · 1 min read