Japan downgrades economic assessment..apparently
A lot of the wires are making a big fuss over the story that the Japanese government has downgraded it's view on the economy. Here's the actual main change they are pointing too;
Last month they said;
"The Japanese economy is in a moderate recovery while weakness was seen in some areas"
This month they said;
"The Japanese economy is in a moderate recovery while weakness can be seen recently"
There were some other changes too
- Private consumption holds firm as a whole became - Private consumption is almost flat, while consumer confidence appears to be pausing.
- Business investment is almost flat became - Business investment is picking up.
- Exports are in a weak tone to - Exports are almost flat.
- Industrial production is flat recently. Unchanged
- Corporate profits are improving. Changed & added - Corporate profits show a trend toward improvement, mainly among non-manufacturers. Firms' judgment on current business conditions is almost flat, while cautiousness can be seen in some areas.
- The employment situation is improving. Unch
- Consumer prices are rising moderately. Unch
As you can see, it's not exactly earth shattering stuff but when talking Japan, there's people who will tie a single change in phrase to expectations of whether the government will change policy or if BOJ will act. I don't know if some of this news is carrying over in to the yen pairs right now but it wouldn't surprise me if it was part of it.
Separately Japan's new economy minister was just out on the wires too;
- He sees no change to Japan's solid economic fundamentals
- Corp earnings and labour market are improving
- Economy is still in a recovery
- Up to Abe to make the decision on whether to raise the sales tax
