MNI: Japan Govt's Economic Outlook Unchanged, Ups Capex

Japan's government kept its overall economic assessment in line with the previous month but upgraded its outlook for capital investment and lowered its assessment for imports, the Cabinet Office said on Tuesday.

“The Japanese economy is picking up moderately,” the report said, repeating previous assessments. The broad economic assessment has remained unchanged for four consecutive months. (See MNI POLICY: BOJ To Maintain Guidance On Covid Worries)

The government said that business investment “is” picking up and the upward revision is the first since February 2022. The previous view was capex showed signs of recovering.

It also said “imports are largely flat.” The downward revision is the first since May 2022. The previous view was that imports showed signs of recovering.

"Consumer prices are rising,” the report said, reiterating it previous view.

The government left its assessment of the global economy unchanged, saying "the world economy continued recovering moderately.”

As for the near-term outlook, the government maintained its optimistic view, saying that the economy is expected to show movements of picking up, supported by the impact of policies as the transition to a new phase of the “new normal” progresses.

The government, however, warned “slowing down of overseas economies is a downside risk to the Japanese economy amid ongoing global monetary tightening and other factors.”

“Also, full attention should be given to price increases, supply-side constraints and fluctuations in the financial and capital markets,” including foreign exchange rates, it also said.