Export increase for Japan raises hopes for third quarter growth
JAPAN’S exporters recorded a welcome jump in sales this July, with outward trade up by 3.9 per cent since the same month last year, a positive signal after a sales tax hike was brought in by the government earlier this year.
Imports to the country also grew in the year to July, up by 2.3 per cent. The figures are an indication that the economy may be bouncing back from April’s tax increase, the first for Japanese goods since 1997.
The Japanese economy soared during the first quarter, with a 1.5 per cent increase in GDP, nearly mirrored by a 1.7 per cent slump during the second quarter.
Chris Scicluna of Daiwa Capital Markets said that the trade balance had been a concern for the strategy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
However, he added yesterday: “If today’s trade data for July are anything to go by, policymakers might raise their hopes a touch that Japan’s export performance has turned the corner.”