ZCZC
BCN-01
JAPAN-ECONOMY-INDICATOR
Japan business confidence rebounds to pre-pandemic levels
TOKYO, April 1, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Major Japanese manufacturers are feeling
optimistic for the first time since the pandemic began, a key survey showed
Thursday, marking a further improvement after business confidence plunged
last year.
The Bank of Japan’s Tankan business survey, a quarterly poll of about
10,000 companies, showed a reading of 5 among big manufacturers.
A positive figure means more manufacturers see business conditions as
favourable than those that consider them unfavourable.
The upbeat reading beat a market consensus estimate of minus 1 and is the
first positive reading since September 2019, before the coronavirus began to
wreak havoc on the world’s economy.
Three months ago, the same survey showed a reading of minus 10, up from
minus 27 in the September survey and minus 34 in June — the lowest level
since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.
The short-term business sentiment survey is considered to be the broadest
indicator of how Japan Inc. is faring, and comes after the country lifted a
pandemic state of emergency in the Tokyo area on March 22.
Despite a spike in Covid-19 infections over the winter, Japan has seen a
comparatively small outbreak overall with around 9,000 deaths, and has
avoided imposing the blanket lockdowns seen in other countries.
However, the number of new cases is rising gradually in the capital and
more quickly in some other regions, sparking fears over a fourth wave as
Japan’s vaccine drive lags behind many other large economies.
Thursday’s survey showed confidence among big non-manufacturers also
improved to minus 1 — against a market consensus of minus 4 — after logging
minus 5 in December.
The Japanese government last year announced several multi-billion-dollar
stimulus packages to shore up the world’s third-largest economy as it
suffered a coronavirus slump.
In December, it approved more than $700 billion in fresh stimulus to fund
projects from anti-coronavirus measures to green tech, the country’s third
such package this financial year.
Japan’s economy grew at a slower 2.8 percent in the October-December
quarter, while the economy shrank 4.8 percent in 2020 — its first annual
contraction since 2009.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0750 hrs