Japan's economy grew at a far weaker pace last quarter than previously reported due to downward revisions in consumer spending and capital investment, the government said yesterday, raising concerns about the recovery's strength.
GDP expanded at an annual rate of 0.8 percent, well below the preliminary 2.0 percent announced last month, but marked the seventh straight quarter of expansion, the government said.
Domestic demand -- which includes consumer spending, government spending and private investment -- had contracted 0.2 percent from the previous quarter instead of inching up 0.1 percent, as previously thought.
PHOTO: AP
Corporate capital investment was weaker than initially estimated, while consumption dropped more than the first reading.
"The big change was in private investment," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse First Boston Securities.
But he expects better results in the current quarter because consumers were discouraged by a number of factors during last quarter, including higher energy costs, an interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan and a faltering Tokyo stock market.
Separate government data viewed as a key indicator for corporate investment, released yesterday, showed core machinery orders rose a weaker-than-expected 2.8 percent in October from the previous month. That reversed September's 7.4 percent plunge but missed the forecasts by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires for 5.7 percent growth.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota blamed the downward GDP revision mostly on weak consumer spending, but assured the public that Japan's economic revival was on track.
"The lower GDP was mainly caused by weak consumption," she said. "I don't have any concerns that the economy will fall into a downward trend. Nor do I see any signs of its entering a lull."
Finance Minister Koji Omi, meanwhile, played down the revision, pointing to improvements in the job market as a sign that consumer spending will grow.
"The economy is in solid condition," he said. "There's no change in the overall trend."
Omi pointed to improvements in the job market as a sign that consumer spending will grow.
Consumer spending dropped 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, instead of the 0.7 percent decline projected earlier. Corporate investment was revised to a 1.5 percent expansion during the quarter, rather than the earlier 2.9 percent growth. Exports, which grew 2.7 percent in the preliminary data, grew 2.5 percent in the revised data.
Compared to the previous quarter, the economy as a whole grew 0.2 percent, according to revised GDP data.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS