Japan PM Abe, speaking in London:
- Says corporate wage increases have been encouraging
- Says wages and employment must improve visibly to overcome deflation
- Business sentiment among small, medium sized companies is positive
- Still need to be cautious about risk of consumption tax hike dampening consumption
- Consumption has not slowed as much as feared after tax hike
Reuters headlines from Abe’s speech.
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No response from yen, hardly surprising. There is some economic data due from Japan today which might give us some movement.
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More from Abe:
- Says Japan is close to escaping defaltion
- Japan seeks to balance growth and austerity packages
- Says that stable, inexpensive energy is key to economic growth
This latter headlines crossing on Bloomberg