Japan's service sentiment worsens in April as US tariffs take toll
TOKYO :Japan's service-sector sentiment worsened in April on concern over the impact of higher U.S. tariffs, a government survey showed on Monday, a sign uncertainty over trade talks with Washington was beginning to take a toll on the fragile economy.
In the first survey since President Donald Trump's April 2 announcement of "reciprocal tariffs", the government downgraded its assessment to say the economy's recovery was weakening.
"While hopes of wage hikes remain, concern over the impact of U.S. trade policy is heightening along with the fallout from rising domestic prices," the government said in the survey.
A diffusion index measuring sentiment among service-sector firms, such as restaurants and department stores, stood at 42.6 in April, down 2.5 points from March, the survey showed, marking the fourth straight month of declines.
An index gauging confidence on the economic outlook two to three months ahead also fell 2.5 points to 42.7, the survey showed in a sign of widening gloom over the fragile recovery.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
35 minutes ago
- CNA
Japan to release 200,000 more tons of emergency rice to curb prices
TOKYO :Japan will release another 200,000 metric tons of rice from its emergency stockpile to tackle a doubling of prices since last year, Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Tuesday. Of the new release, 100,000 tons of 2021 crop year rice will be sold first, to retailers of all sizes and local rice sellers with sufficient milling capacity, he said. The rest will follow from the 2020 crop year. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Soaring rice prices have become a major concern for consumers and policymakers ahead of key elections in Tokyo and nationwide. Consumers have been forming long queues to buy the 5 kg bags of stockpiled rice priced at 2,000 yen ($13.82) since they began hitting store shelves in the past week and a half. KEY QUOTES "We want to continue responding without slowing down so that the stockpiled rice can reach consumers quickly and at a low cost," Koizumi said during a press conference. "We must never allow the virtuous cycle of prices and wages in the Japanese economy as a whole to break down. If the cause lies with rice, then I believe we must address such issues promptly." BY THE NUMBERS Japan has so far released about 600,000 tons of rice from its roughly 900,000-ton emergency stockpile since March. About half of that was sold directly to retailers just in the past two weeks under Koizumi's new distribution policy. Data on Monday showed average supermarket rice prices dropped for the second straight week, to 4,223 yen per 5 kg in the seven days to June 1, down 37 yen. WHAT'S NEXT Koizumi has signalled readiness to release the entire emergency rice stockpile and utilise imports if necessary to stabilise prices until the new harvest arrives in August. Further price trends and policy measures will be closely watched as Japan heads into the elections in the coming weeks.
CNA
44 minutes ago
- CNA
BOJ's Ueda vows to keep raising rates if underlying inflation accelerates
TOKYO :Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday the central bank will keep raising interest rates if it becomes more convinced that underlying inflation will hit its 2 per cent target. The BOJ is keeping real interest rates negative to ensure underlying inflation is still below its 2 per cent target, Ueda told parliament. "Once we have more conviction that underlying inflation will approach 2 per cent or hover around that level, we will continue to raise interest rates to adjust the degree of monetary support," Ueda said.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - US-China trade talks in London
CNA938 Rewind The U.S and China are set to resume trade talks in London. U.S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. It's the second round of such negotiations between the world's two biggest economies. Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman speak with Chris Humphrey, Executive Director, EU-ASEAN Business Council, on the issues coming out from the meeting.
