Japan household spending drops 11.1% in April
07 June, 2020
Japan's household spending slumped again in April, falling 11.1 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, as the world's third-largest economy struggled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The figure released by the inner affairs ministry was largely consistent with market expectations of a 12.75 percent drop. It had been the seventh straight month of declines since October, when the federal government hiked a sales tax.
"The brand new coronavirus is having a serious effect on the economy including spending by individuals," chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters, asked about the government's view on the latest figure.
"We believe that it is necessary for us to return to regular financial activities step-by-step while taking counter-infection measures, as companies are trying to survive the existing situation," added Suga, the very best government spokesman.
The April drop was partly related to declines in spending on transport and telecommunications, as well as on leisure activities.
The most recent figures come after official data last month confirmed Japan dived into its first recession since 2015, shrinking by 0.9 percent in the first quarter since it wrestles with the fallout from the coronavirus.
The drop in gross domestic product followed a 1.9 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2019 as the tax hike and typhoons hit Japan hard -- even prior to the pandemic shut down a lot of the economy.
Fears about the financial impact of the virus have shaken global and Japanese financial markets and the Bank of Japan last month expanded its emergency monetary easing and cut growth forecasts for the country.
Weighed against hard-hit areas in Europe, america, Russia and Brazil, Japan has been spared the worst of the pandemic, with 17,064 infections and 907 deaths.
But on April 7, with cases starting to spike and fears for the country's health system, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other regions -- later expanding it to cover the whole nation.
Businesses and schools were urged to shut and persons were asked to remain home, but Japan's lockdown was far softer than in other areas of the world and there is no punishment for all those flouting the rules.
Citizens largely heeded the orders, however, with most of Tokyo's famously packed streets falling quiet.
ON, MAY 25, Japan lifted a nationwide state of emergency, slowly but surely reopening the economy as government officials warned caution was still essential to prevent another wave.
The amount of new infections has fallen from a peak of around 700 per day to simply a few dozen nationally.
But officials are warning you will find a possibility of another wave of infections in places, including Tokyo.
Source: japantoday.com
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