Japan Economics Weekly Electricity rate hike to dilute government subsidies Seven of Japan's ten regional utility companies have applied to the government to raise electricity prices for households. If approved, headline inflation would still drop below the Bank of Japan’s 2%... 3rd February 2023 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Funding tussle may scupper higher spending on babies PM Kishida’s plan to lift spending on childcare would take the total outlay to the highest in the OECD. However, this likely won’t have much of an impact on the stubborn decline in fertility. After... 27th January 2023 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly 10-year yield ceiling will be tested again soon 10-year JGB yields have traded well within the 50bp tolerance band since the BoJ maintained its policy settings on Wednesday. Even so, we still expect the Bank to jettison Yield Curve Control in April... 20th January 2023 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Price pressures broadening, 10-year yields at 0.5% There are early signs that the surge in “core” goods inflation is running out of steam, but services inflation is strengthening. Services inflation won’t accelerate fast enough to offset the coming... 13th January 2023 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Manufacturing slumping, but tourism set to rebound Industrial production probably recorded the largest fall since the slump at the start of the pandemic last quarter. Q4 GDP will nonetheless rebound, helped by a strong recovery in services activity... 6th January 2023 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly New 10-year ceiling will be tested before long The widening of the tolerance band around the BoJ’s target for 10-year yields announced on Tuesday aims to improve bond market functioning. But if this week is any guide, that purpose remains out of... 23rd December 2022 · 9 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Inventory build-up points to looming recession Surges in manufacturing inventories in the BoJ’s Tankan have a strong record in providing early warnings of economic downturns. The strong rise in inventories over the last couple of quarters... 16th December 2022 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Consumers will struggle next year The strong rise in services spending in October suggests that consumers are finally learning to live with the virus so a rebound in Q4 GDP looks very likely. But with real incomes slumping, that... 9th December 2022 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Japanese carmakers struggling in decarbonising world The conventional wisdom is that the continued difficulties of Japan’s car industry reflect persistent supply shortages. But there are structural headwinds too as the industry has missed the EV... 2nd December 2022 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Discretionary spending cuts hurting service sector While the rebound in inbound tourism is positive for the accommodation and transport sectors, the wider services sector is struggling because households are having to cut back on discretionary... 25th November 2022 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Weak yen and COVID not to blame for Q3 GDP fall Q3 saw a surprise contraction in GDP that many media outlets blamed on the surge in virus cases and the slide in the yen’s value during the quarter. We think instead that the real culprits were a... 18th November 2022 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Thinner savings rate buffer for spending in Q4 Private consumption remained resilient in the face of the record COVID wave in Q3, suggesting that households have finally learned to live with the virus. We’ve revised up our Q3 spending forecast... 11th November 2022 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Strength in business investment won’t be sustained We’re revising up our estimate of Q3 business investment as capital goods shipments surged and firms plan to spend the most on research and development in years. However, with a global manufacturing... 4th November 2022 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Public support will push inflation below 2% again The Tokyo CPI’s strength in October has prompted us to lift our forecast for the peak in underlying inflation from 2.5% to 3.0%. However, government support measures announced today mean that headline... 28th October 2022 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Japan economy now in fourth place, but not for long With the yen reaching a 14-year low against the euro, we estimate that Germany's GDP has overtaken Japan's in US$-terms. However, as the yen is now more severely undervalued relative to fundamentals... 21st October 2022 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly MoF winding up for another intervention The yen weakened below its 1998 trough today, with no explicit intervention in response from the Ministry of Finance. That doesn't mean it won't step in again, but it appears to be more concerned... 14th October 2022 · 6 mins read
