TOKYO (MNI) – The Japanese government on Thursday left its overall
economic assessment unchanged in its monthly report for April while
revising up its view on exports and housing investment.
“The Japanese economy is still picking up slowly, while
difficulties continue to prevail due to the Great East Japan
Earthquake,” it repeated. The government has held this same view for the
last six months.
But the report revised up the assessment of the outlook for exports
for the first time in eight months, saying: “Exports have leveled off.”
In March, the report said: “Exports have weakened recently.”
Export volume on a seasonally adjusted basis stood at 98.3 (against
100.0 for the 2005 base year) in February, the highest level since 102.3
marked in September 2011. The March volume rose 7.0% m/m, the strongest
gain in more than 10 years.
The report also revised up its view of domestic housing investment,
saying it is “showing signs of picking up.” In the previous report, it
said that the sector had “leveled off recently.”
Housing starts rose 7.5% on year in February, the first gain in six
months, after -1.1% in January and -7.3% in December, thanks to rises
in housing starts in earthquake-hit areas.
The government report also noted that deflationary pressure had
eased somewhat, saying: “Consumer prices are leveling off.” In March, it
said consumer prices were still “falling gradually.”
Core CPI, which excludes perishables but includes energy,
unexpectedly posted the first year-on-year rise in five months in
February, up 0.1% after a 0.1% fall in January.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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