Tag - economy

 
 

ECONOMY

The Bank of Japan will release its quarterly report on the Japanese economy and prices at its two-day policy meeting from Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 27, 2025
BOJ may lower economic and price forecasts
Amid Trump's global trade war, the central bank is also likely to keep its monetary policy unchanged.
Vehicles travel along the 110 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. California's GDP has overtaken Japan's to become the world's fourth largest economy, according to the U.S. state.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 27, 2025
California says it overtakes Japan to become world’s No. 4 economy
Japan's annual GDP was surpassed by China in 2010 and Germany in 2023, positioning the country in fourth place.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at Rengo's May Day event alongside the union's chief, Tomoko Yoshino, on Saturday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2025
Ishiba vows wage hikes that keep up with inflation at May Day event
Ishiba's participation marks the third year in a row for a Japanese prime minister to attend Rengo's May Day event.
U.S President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Ryosei Akazawa, who is in charge of trade negotiations with Washington, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 16.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2025
Japan is a test case for Trump's tariff deals. But talks may be tortuous.
While some expect an agreement at the June G7 summit in Canada in June, others say it will be risky for Tokyo to cede ground before Upper House elections expected in July.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga speaks during an interview at the IMF-World Bank Group spring meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025
Developing countries should fast-track U.S. trade deals, World Bank chief says
"You need to negotiate trade systems with the U.S. at the earliest possible (opportunity)," Ajay Banga said. "If you delay, it hurts everyone."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks about U.S. tariffs in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan doubles down on stimulus to counter effects of Trump tariffs
The government will implement measures that build on ones announced earlier with the aim of boosting domestic spending and shoring up corporate balance sheets.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks
The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump's criticisms about Japan's tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week's bilateral negotiations.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa is leading Japan's negotiations to forge a trade deal with the U.S. Carefully contemplated and measured retaliatory levies are one of the tools at the tariff czar's disposal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 25, 2025
Japan needs clarity as an antidote to contradictory tariffs
With incompatible goals and an erratic timeline, Trump's tariff strategy has more holes than Swiss cheese. In response, Japan should bring a strong, coherent strategy to the table.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a discussion on the employment ice age generation in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2025
‘Employment ice age generation’ returns to spotlight ahead of Upper House election
The generation, which graduated between 1993 and 2004, has long grappled with pay stagnation and irregular employment due to a tight labor market.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in Tokyo gained 3.4% in April from a year earlier, as a mixture of impacts from last year’s school fee cuts and higher food and energy costs accelerated inflation, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Tokyo prices rise most in two years, backing central bank's hike path
Consumer prices excluding fresh food gained 3.4% in April from a year earlier. Tokyo's figures are a leading indicator for national price gains.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
No discussion of yen target, Kato says after Bessent meeting
The two countries possibly committing to a specific number in terms of the yen-dollar exchange rate has helped drive up the value of the Japanese currency.
Without a coordinated international response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, growing uncertainty could lead to a fragmented global economy marked by slower growth and chronic instability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2025
Trump’s tariff chaos could reverse 80 years of economic progress
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies are undermining the rules-based system established after World War II.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Trump’s trade whiplash sinks world into dreaded ‘uncertainty’
"The worry I hear more often is actually not even tariffs, it is uncertainty,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters Thursday. "Let’s have clarity.”
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. indicates no hard target for yen ahead of key trade talks
The United States has argued that the yen is too weak, making its value against the dollar a top agenda item in trade discussions.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during an event in Chicago earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
Federal Reserve at a policy and political crossroads poses global risks
A divergence between the Fed and other central banks could stress dollar funding markets and make financing more expensive for less-developed countries.
"The main message we have on monetary policy is that in times of heightened uncertainty, flexibility and data dependence become paramount,” said Nada Choueiri, the International Monetary Fund’s Japan mission chief, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
IMF urges BOJ flexibility on rates as tariffs dent outlook
Along with downgraded global growth projections, the IMF's forecast for Japan’s expansion in 2025 was trimmed by 0.5 percentage points to 0.6%.
A worker labors on a spinning machine at a factory in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia in September 2019. For Indonesia, China’s trade power means lost jobs and hard choices.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2025
Asia would welcome trade deals that exclude China
The real cost to developing countries of China’s trade practices runs deeper: lost jobs can be counted, but missed opportunities can’t.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa last week at Haneda Airport. The chief tariff negotiator believes the gap between the United States and Japan on trade issues remains wide.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025
Mood shifts to measured optimism in U.S.-Japan trade dispute
Japan has so far engaged in a charm offensive aimed at staying onside while politely poking holes in the president's arguments and expectations.
MUFG Bank, a unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, is among firms that recently scrapped a clerical job category that consisted almost exclusively of women, a sign that the financial sector is finally getting more serious about reducing gender inequalities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Top Japanese firms scrap employment system that held women back
Abandoning the clerical job category may increase opportunities for women to advance to more senior positions.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in parliament on Monday
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025
Ishiba to launch program to cut gasoline prices by ¥10 a liter
The move comes in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures and the rising cost of living.

Longform

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