Bank of Japan ends loose money policy
March 9, 2006
As predicted by some analysts, The Bank of Japan decided on Thursday to end its five-year ultra-loose monetary policy, exchanging it for a policy of targeting the overnight call rate. The Bank said, in announcing its decision, that the economy has exited deflation and returned to normal with no danger of returning to deflation. […]
Policy change more likely on new Japanese data
March 3, 2006
The core consumer price index in Japan gained 0.5 percent in January, just a bit more than had been expected. It was the third month in a row that the core CPI, which excludes fresh food, increased, and represented the readings highest level in eight years. The advance led some analysts to expect […]
Foreign investors leave Tokyo markets
February 16, 2006
Information released Thursday by the Japanese Ministry of Finance showed that overseas investors left the Japanese equities markets in larger numbers last week than they entered it for the first time since September, and indications are that this will be the case this week as well. If this turns out to be the case, […]
Mexico sees economy enter stronger period of growth
August 1, 2005
According to Mexicos finance ministry, the Mexican economy grew by about 4 percent in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2004. This is an improvement over growth in the first quarter, which was just 2.4 percent better than the previous year. The gains came on better consumer […]
Singapore economy grows
July 11, 2005
Singapores economic growth in the second quarter of 2005 was much better than had been expected, according to early estimates. Preliminary data shows that Singapores economy grew by 3.9 percent in the quarter after having retracted by 5.5 percent in the first quarter when compared to the last quarter of last year. The […]
Japanese concern at rising oil prices impacting economic recovery
June 24, 2005
In Japan on Friday, chief cabinet secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said that rising oil prices concerned him because they have a negative effect on global economic development. In separate remarks, Economics minister Heizo Takanaka worried that while there are signs that the nations economy is showing signs of coming out of a soft patch, oil […]
Japan postpones forecast to inflation as economy decline continues
April 26, 2005
Predictions of economists are mixed as to whether Japan will be able to grow out of deflation any time soon, and the Japanese finance minister was quoted as saying that because the prices of some products have started going up and corporate profits are good, it is hard to know why deflation was continuing. Consumer […]
China now Japan’s closest trade partner
January 27, 2005
Japan’s Finance Ministry released figures that showed that China is now Japan’s closest trading partner, taking over from the United States.China accounted for 20.1% of Japanese trade in 2004, as opposed to 19.2% in 2003.Trade with the USA in 2004 amounted to 18.6%, as opposed to 20.5% in 2003.Trading with China in 2004 was worth […]
Asian currencies peak highs
January 23, 2005
Asian currencies continued strong New Year openings, with the South Korean won reaching it’s strongest levels against the US dollar since crisis hit the east Asian economy in 1997. The Yen also reached a high of 5 years, with the Thai baht and Taiwan dollar both reaching 4 year highs.However, confidence that currency deals would […]
Japanese trade union calls for wage boost
January 18, 2005
The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), has called on the corporate sector to redress the growing imbalance between company profits and employee earnings.It comes as the Bank of Japan published figures that showed that the share of company income going to wage costs had shrunk to its lowest for six years.Although the Japanese economy has […]
Japan hopes on machinery sales
January 14, 2005
News that machinery sales from Japan increased by a sudden 20% in November last year sent investors speculating in Japanese stocks, as a troubled economy attempts to avert industrial recession in 2005.The machinery sales are seen as a strong indicator of health in the corporate economy, despite that telecoms orders were also strong.The news sent […]