Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Access the Market Tools Trusted by Thousands of Investors Get Started
Japan Q2 GDP Revised Higher on Stronger Business Spending
Author
Published Sep 07, 2022 08:09PM ET
Updated Sep 07, 2022 08:17PM ET
© Reuters.
By Ambar Warrick
Investing.com-- Japan’s economy grew more than initially estimated in the second quarter, government data showed on Thursday, as increased capital expenditure by businesses helped offset the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a depreciating yen.
The Japanese economy now expanded by 0.9% in the April-June period when compared to the prior quarter, more than a preliminary reading of 0.5%. On an annualized basis, the economy grew 3.5%, up from an initial reading of 2.2%, and well above the previous quarter’s reading of 0.1%.
The data shows that the world’s third-largest economy is now comfortably at pre-COVID levels, helped by steady consumer and business spending. A reading last week showed that capital expenditure by Japanese companies surged 4.6% in the second quarter, as more companies bet on improving growth in the wake of easing COVID-19 curbs.
But this trend may be reversed in the coming months, putting Japanese economic growth at stake after a fresh COVID outbreak in July saw the reintroduction of curbs.
The Japanese economy is also under extreme pressure from surging inflation and rising commodity prices, both of which have battered the yen. Relative strength in the U.S. dollar saw the Japanese currency slump to a 24-year low of 144 to the dollar this week.
Rising fuel and food costs saw Japanese inflation hit a more-than-seven-year high in July.
The Bank of Japan is so far reluctant to hike interest rates, making it an outlier among its major global peers. This has also weighed on the yen and pressured the Japanese economy.
Recent data also showed that Japanese household spending grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the prior month, indicating that a weakening yen and rising inflation could be weighing on consumers, one of the main drivers of Japan's economy.
The Japanese government recently expressed concerns over the drastic drop in the yen this year. But it has so far not outlined any details on how it plans to intervene in currency markets.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.