Japan's government downgraded its assessment of the economy in October for the first time in six months, saying weakening global growth is slowing down a recovery in factory output and exports. The assessment, in a monthly report released on Monday, reflects growing concerns that the economy's rebound from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami could be tailing off because of faltering overseas demand and deteriorating market sentiment.
"The Japanese economy is still picking up although the pace of recovery decelerates, while difficulties continue to prevail due to the earthquake," the government said in its report. The comment was similar to the assessment in its previous monthly report, except this time it has added that the pace of recovery was decelerating.
The Bank of Japan maintains that the economy is in a moderate recovery, although at its last policy review on October 7 it highlighted increasing threats from Europe's sovereign debt crisis and weakening global economy. Economics Minister Motohisa Furukawa said Japan faced risks from weak overseas economies and a yen that was stronger than Japanese companies had planned for, but recovery would continue.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.