Japan's economy is logging its second-longest expansion since the end of World War II and is on track to grow by more than 2 percent this year, according to Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano.
The upward trend should continue until the summer of next year, making the current growth streak the longest in postwar history, Yosano said yesterday.
His remarks were the latest in a stream of optimistic forecasts about the strengthening recovery of the world's second-largest economy.
Japan's economy has stagnated for about 15 years since the late 1980s. Its turnaround promises more balanced growth for the world economy, which has relied in recent years on breakneck consumption in the US.
But now, Japan is enjoying a rebound on booming exports and rising consumer spending. Unemployment has been falling, the stock market has rocketed to near six-year highs, and deflation has been reversed, ending a spiral of tumbling prices that have eroded corporate earnings and workers' paychecks.
The economy has now been expanding for 51 months, the same span as the so-called bubble era of the 1980s and 1990s, Yosano said.
The only longer postwar expansion -- 57 months -- came in 1965 after Tokyo hosted the Olympics.
Yosano said that the current trend of growth would continue until the summer of next year, and that growth this year should exceed expectations.
"The government predicts growth of 1.9 percent," Yosano said on the Asahi Television talk show Sunday Project. "I can easily see how it will be more than 2 percent."
Yosano attributed the recovery to the economic restructuring policies of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a more cautious approach to investment by Japanese companies and booming economies in China and the US -- big markets for Japanese exports.
"Various economic figures are all showing signs of improvement," he said.
On Friday, Japan's Cabinet maintained its upbeat view of the economy, saying in its monthly report that imports and exports were improving due to solid consumer spending.
Japan's economy grew at a brisk 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 1.3 percent, marking the fourth straight quarter of growth.
But the government identifies expansion by averaging a selection of economic data and seeing whether the result falls above a "boom or bust" threshold of 50.
The big question that remains is: When will the Bank of Japan raise interest rates?
The central bank has kept rates near zero for five years, to jump-start the economy, and now that growth is back on track, many economists expect rates to creep up by the end of the year.
That has worried some government officials and business leaders who worry raising rates too soon could stifle the recovery. Yosano steered clear of the debate yesterday, declining to comment on when the central bank might lift interest rates.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique