Tag - inflation

 
 

INFLATION

Japan’s economic recovery from the pandemic is losing momentum as overseas economies slow and sticky inflation weighs on domestic consumption.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2023
Japan’s deepest economic contraction since pandemic clouds path for BOJ
Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized 2.9% in the three months through September from the previous quarter as households reined in spending.
Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino's comments are the clearest sign so far from the BOJ’s leadership that authorities are considering what the impact would be if they ended negative rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2023
BOJ’s deputy chief hints that end of negative rate may be closer
Ryozo Himino has set out a hypothesis for what might happen if rates do indeed go positive.
The average price of whole Christmas cakes in Japan is up 7.8% from a year earlier, reflecting steep rises in prices of ingredients.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2023
Christmas cake prices jump 7.8% in Japan
According to a survey by Teikoku Databank, prices of Christmas cakes measuring 15 centimeters in diameter average ¥4,468.
Big Japanese banks are now training a generation of professional front-line staff who have little experience with rising interest rates.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2023
Staff at Japan's banks scramble to adjust to rising interest rates
Many younger employees have no expertise in dealing with the vagaries of a traditional inflationary environment.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.3% in November from the prior year in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 5, 2023
Tokyo inflation cools to slowest pace in over a year
The development supports the Bank of Japan’s view that it should continue to be cautious about a tightening of policy.
Fresh U.S. data shows price pressures are easing and the labor market is gradually cooling, evidence that the slowdown the Federal Reserve has tried to engineer with its rate hikes to date is underway.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 1, 2023
U.S. Fed officials feel rate hikes likely done, but too soon to know
Models suggest Fed policy is the most restrictive it has been in 25 years, and it will probably need to stay restrictive for "quite some time."
The Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura says more time is needed before the bank phases out its massive stimulus.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 30, 2023
BOJ policymaker says more time needed before easing can be curbed
While a continued economic recovery and tight labor market hold promise for wage growth, inflation continues to suppress down real wages.
Monthly regular pay rose 3.2%, or ¥9,437, on average this year, both record highs since comparative figures began in 1999.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2023
Japanese firms giving record pay raises this year, poll shows
Policymakers have said hiking wages is essential to ending deflation and to achieving and sustaining an inflation rate of 2% in a stable manner.
A Bank of Japan survey shows that the services producer price index rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2023
Corporate service inflation rise signals broadening price pressures
The services producer price index, which measures the price companies charge each other for services, rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier.
Core consumer prices in Japan rose 2.9% in October from a year earlier, staying above the Bank of Japan's 2% target for the 19th straight month as products seeing price hikes continued to broaden.
BUSINESS
Nov 24, 2023
Japan inflation quickens, clouding price outlook for BOJ
A weak yen has been a key driver behind high import costs, as it has stayed near a 33-year low against the dollar in recent months.
Japanese stock markets have already rallied to around their highest since 1990, with consumer and financial stocks outperforming domestic indexes.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Nov 21, 2023
Japan's inflation comeback prompts investors to tear up playbooks
Investors are tearing up their playbooks to focus on expected higher interest rates, more generous dividends and a revival in consumer spending.
Pedestrians walk past an electronic board displaying various companies' share prices, in a business district in Tokyo on Oct. 31.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2023
Japan’s fiscal advisory board warns of impact of higher rates
Even small changes could have a large impact given rates are so low and Japan has the largest public debt load among developed economies.
Japan's producer prices rose 0.8% in October from a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth since gains resumed in March 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 13, 2023
Japan’s input inflation slows below 2% for first time since 2021
A measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 0.8% from a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth since gains resumed in March 2021.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Sanae Takaichi, the minister in charge of economic security, attend a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2023
Cabinet approves ¥13.1 trillion extra budget to finance fresh stimulus
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appears to be eager to regain popularity with the relief package, but voters aren't convinced.
A man dressed as Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders jumps into the Dotonbori River in Osaka after the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 9, 2023
Japan’s 'four-eyed tax hiker' and the curse of Colonel Sanders
Baseball writer Jason Coskrey and editor Joel Tansey discuss the Hanshin Tigers’ Japan Series victory; Gabriele Ninivaggi explains how the prime minister hopes to get a home run with his tax plan.
Land Minister Tetsuo Saito (center right) visits Yumeshima, the venue for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo, on Nov. 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2023
Troubled 2025 Osaka Expo could see further cost increases
Amid numerous challenges, Osaka officials hope no further discussions on increasing the budget of the troubled event will be needed.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference following the central bank's policy meeting on Oct. 31.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2023
BOJ debated groundwork for future easy-policy exit at meeting
The October discussions highlight how the central bank is looking to exit its decade-long accommodative regime.
Japan's real wages dropped 2.4% in September from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2023
Japan's wages and spending extend declines in test for BOJ policy
Japan's real wages dropped 2.4% in September from a year earlier.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses business leaders in Nagoya on Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2023
BOJ chief sees inflation progress but warns of uncertainty
Japan's economy is likely to continue recovering, but the outlook was "extremely uncertain," Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. As the European Union’s biggest economy wrestles with a persistent slump and a surge in immigration, the specter of German nationalism has returned, leaving citizens more conflicted over their country’s direction than at any point since World War II.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2023
The far right is on the rise in Germany and Scholz is at a loss
Amidst economic challenges and surging immigration, German nationalism has reemerged.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’