Japan Economics Weekly Manufacturing bottlenecks may be easing The economic recovery stalled last quarter as the services sector was held back by virus restrictions and manufacturers suffered from chip shortages. However, with daily jabs now above the government... 2nd July 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Silver lining to still half-full fiscal war chest The fact that only around half of Japan’s coronavirus fiscal stimulus funds have actually been spent so far supports our view that government spending hasn’t propped up the economy as much as commonly... 25th June 2021 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly State of emergency declarations to be lifted The lifting of almost all states of emergency on Sunday should translate into economic activity rebounding further next week and entering Q3 on a relatively strong footing. And with daily cases... 18th June 2021 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Vaccines for all by November, ¥1000 minimum wage The revised Q1 GDP figures and April wage data released this week suggest the economy was a little more resilient than first appeared in the early part of this year. And the economy is looking... 11th June 2021 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Industry to benefit from recovery in capital spending The slump in retail sales in April suggests that consumer spending may have fallen further during the third state of emergency. However, the medical situation is improving and the vaccination rollout... 4th June 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly State of emergency extension, Olympic fifth wave? While the fourth wave of coronavirus has broken, with hospital capacity still stretched the government will today extend the emergency declarations covering half of the economy until 20 th June. That... 28th May 2021 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Disappointing Q1, Moderna & AZ jabs approved Due to the economy faring worse than we had expected in Q1, we’ve significantly revised down our 2021 GDP forecast. Even so Japan’s economy is still on course for a strong recovery later in the year... 21st May 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Recovery delayed as vaccine rollout still too slow The vaccination rollout failed to accelerate markedly after the Golden Week holidays. This is entirely due to logistical challenges rather than insufficient vaccine supply, which should be resolved... 14th May 2021 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Resilient economic activity not necessarily good news While economic activity appears to have held up well so far in Q2, daily cases are close to record highs at the nationwide level. Indeed, the government is today set to announce an extension of the... 7th May 2021 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Chip shortages set to ease, vaccine passports The rebound in industrial production in March is consistent with our view that the second state of emergency wasn’t as damaging as many had feared. And while the chip shortages that are plaguing car... 30th April 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Economy to stagnate in first half of the year The states of emergency set to begin in four major prefectures on Sunday will knock back Japan’s economic recovery and should mean that output stagnates across the first half of 2021. While the... 23rd April 2021 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Kansai emergency looming, jabs to pick up soon The continued surge in daily infections makes it highly likely that states of emergency will be declared again for at least the hard hit prefectures of Osaka and Hyogo. If the spread intensifies... 16th April 2021 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly UK variant taking hold in Osaka, July snap election? Signs the recent surge in infections in the Osaka area is being driven by more infectious strains raises the risk of more draconian restrictions being needed to break the fourth wave of coronavirus... 9th April 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Fourth wave fears, pace of inoculations slow until May The jump in retail sales in February and the strong rise in the Q1 Tankan released today confirm that the economy weathered the second state of emergency far better than the first. And there is... 1st April 2021 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly In with the TOPIX, car chipmaker fire, mobility surge While we revised up our forecasts for long-term US Treasury yields this week, we've left our upbeat forecasts for Japanese equities unchanged. One major change we have made though is to switch our... 26th March 2021 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Vaccine rollout kicking into gear, emergency over With Japan initially entirely reliant on imports of the Pfizer vaccine, many initial concerns over the speed of the vaccine rollout centred on supply constraints. However, that hasn't been an issue... 19th March 2021 · 4 mins read
