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Japan Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Core machinery orders grew for second straight month in March
Seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in March rose 13% from the previous month, growing for the second consecutive month, the Cabinet Office said Thursday. Core orders, or private-sector orders excluding those for ships and machines used by power utilities, a leading indicator of corporate capital investment, totaled ¥1.01 trillion. The government agency kept its basic assessment unchanged, saying that machinery orders are showing signs of picking up. Core machinery orders from manufacturers gained 8.0% to ¥459.3 billion, and those from nonmanufacturers grew 9.6% to ¥534 billion. Large-scale orders from the chemical and telecommunications industries, worth over ¥10 billion, pushed up the overall figure. Overall machinery orders, including those from the public sector and abroad, fell 9.4% to ¥3.05 trillion. In fiscal 2024, which ended in March, core machinery orders rose 3.7% from the previous year to ¥10.67 trillion. For April-June, core orders are projected to shrink 2.1% from the previous quarter, due to a decline in orders from nonmanufacturers. The impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures on machinery orders should be closely watched next month and beyond, a Cabinet Office official said.
NHK
12-05-2025
- Business
- NHK
Analysts: Japan's GDP likely shrank in Jan.-Mar. quarter
Most analysts believe Japan's economy contracted in the January-March period, due to weak private consumption and slow external demand. The government will release gross domestic product figures for the quarter on Friday. Eight out of 11 private-sector research institutes project the economy shrank in the first quarter of this year. This would reverse three quarters of growth through the final quarter of 2024. Three research firms believe private consumption fell due to higher living costs, while eight others project such spending grew, but at around 0.2 percent or less. Private consumption accounts for more than half of Japan's GDP. Most researchers say Japan's GDP was hit by the global economic slowdown. This reduced earnings from exports at the same time as imports increased. However, 10 out of 11 firms believe capital investment grew, citing robust spending on software and semiconductor-related equipment. The analysts say first quarter GDP was not directly impacted by US tariffs, as the period was before President Donald Trump imposed the levies.
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Sri Lanka gets $1 bln from World Bank, jobs in focus
NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Wednesday it has earmarked more than $1 billion to support job creation and private sector growth in Sri Lanka over three years. "The initiative aims to expand economic opportunity, strengthen local industry, and attract private capital to support long-term growth," the bank said in a statement. The World Bank estimates a shortage of some 700,000 jobs in the island nation over the next decade with a million young people entering the workforce.
