Japan PM Abe: Lockdown of Tokyo would have a severe impact on the economy

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Speaking before the parliament on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that a lockdown of Tokyo would have a severe impact on the economy, given the key role it plays in the country amid a huge population.

Abe quoted: "For now, I don't think we need to call a state of emergency. But it's very important to respond appropriately since the Tokyo metropolitan area has a huge population."

This comes after the metropolitan government confirmed that Tokyo had 259 total cases of COVID-19 infection as of Thursday night.

USD/JPY eyes 108.00

The USD/JPY pair is down over 1% near 108.30, having extended the previous slide amid ongoing US dollar weakness across the board while a cautious market mood, reflective of the losses in the S&P 500 futures, underpins the safe-haven bids for the yen.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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