Japan slashes its view of the economy for the first time in five months

In its February economic assessment report, the Japanese government slashes the overall view of the economy for the first time in five months, in the face of the Omicron covid variant outbreaks.

Key takeaways

Private sector economists have trimmed Japan's current quarter growth forecast to near zero, if not contraction.”

"The economy continues to pick up, but some weaknesses are observed as severe conditions due to the coronavirus linger.”

“The government downgraded its evaluation of private consumption for the first time since September, saying the recovery appeared to be stalling lately.”

"Restaurants, transport, hotels, travel - consumption in all of these services has been weak since late January."

“The government made its first upgrade of capital expenditure assessment in 10 months, reflecting robust business spending figures in fourth-quarter gross domestic product data.”

“The government tweaked its view on wholesale inflation by adding a reference to its "gradual increase.”