Japan Economics Update Producer price inflation set to slow further The persistent strength in producer price inflation probably still mostly reflects the lagged influence of the surge in import costs rather than any pick-up in wage growth. If the yen keeps... 26th August 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update Kishida’s resignation won’t affect economic outlook Prime Minister Kishida’s resignation is hardly a surprise. At this stage, it’s very difficult to predict who will succeed him and the ruling LDP will probably remain in power for the foreseeable... 14th August 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update The financial stability risks from recent market moves Even though it’s difficult to identify what could have broken as a result of the recent rapid market moves, a stronger yen is a bigger threat to the health of Japan’s financial institutions than... 7th August 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update FX intervention to weaken yen unlikely Japan’s government has intervened in the FX markets to weaken the yen far more often than to strengthen it. But FX interventions have become very rare over the past two decades and our sense is that... 6th August 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan will hike rates yet again in October The Bank of Japan outlined a plan for reducing its bond purchases and hiked its policy rate by 20bp today. We think it will follow up with another 20bp hike at its October meeting. 31st July 2024 · 3 mins read
FX Markets Update Yen intervention: fourth time’s the charm? Japan’s intervention in support of the yen is not enough in itself to generate a sustained rebound in the yen. But with the FOMC (finally) nearing its first rate cut while the BoJ continues to tighten... 17th July 2024 · 4 mins read
FX Markets Update Revisiting the outlook for the renminbi & the yen The continued weakness of the renminbi and the yen against the US dollar despite the narrowing of interest rate differentials via-a-vis the US is something of a conundrum, but our sense remains that... 11th July 2024 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Update More dynamism not lifting productivity yet While there are tentative signs that Japan’s economy is becoming more dynamic, this has yet to produce significant improvements in aggregate productivity. We still think that a more meaningful pick-up... 10th July 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Bank will hike its policy rate once more in July The Bank of Japan disappointed markets today by announcing that it will only present a detailed plan for reducing its bond purchases at its July meeting. We think it will also deliver a final policy... 14th June 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Revisiting the puzzle of falling job vacancies While the official job openings figures have fallen since late-2022, the bulk of the evidence suggests that firms are facing increasingly severe job shortages. One explanation for the fall in job... 12th June 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update Why are US import prices from Japan rising? Rising car prices explain why US import prices from Japan haven’t fallen despite the sharp weakening of the yen. While growth in car prices has slowed as supply shortages have unwound, this hasn’t... 10th June 2024 · 2 mins read
Global Economics Update What the latest US tariffs mean for the global economy We held an online Drop-In session today to discuss the Biden administration’s new tariffs on goods from China. This Update answers several of the questions that we received about the direct effects of... 15th May 2024 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Update Case for FX intervention less compelling than in 2022 The Ministry of Finance may have intervened earlier today by selling FX reserves to halt the sharp fall of the yen. However, the economic case for foreign exchange intervention is much weaker now than... 29th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan will hike rates once more in July The Bank of Japan is getting more confident in meeting its inflation target on a sustained basis and signalled that inflation wouldn’t have to overshoot for policy to be tightened further. Nonetheless... 26th April 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Plunge in Tokyo inflation won’t prevent BoJ tightening The plunge in inflation in Tokyo in April was mostly due to a sharp fall in high school tuition fees and the provision of free school meals. The impact of those policy changes on nationwide inflation... 26th April 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Services inflation will remain around 2% this year We now expect services inflation to remain around 2% this year as a fading tailwind from soaring hotel and package tour prices will be offset by stronger labour cost growth. The upshot is that the... 23rd April 2024 · 4 mins read
