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Japan’s post-pandemic economic recovery to falter in Q4 2020 – Reuters poll

Japan’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic induced worst postwar recession is seen losing steam in the October-December quarter, according to the latest Reuters poll of economists.

Key findings

“The economy is said to have marked a quarter-on-quarter expansion of 2.3% in October-December, as improving exports made up for some of the weakness in consumption.”

“On an annualized basis, the economy likely expanded 9.5% in October-December after a 22.9% gain in the previous quarter.”

“Even if the economy rebounds at the estimated pace in the final quarter of last year, it will remain at roughly 80% the level before the pandemic struck in March.”

“Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the economy, likely rose just 1.8% in October-December after a 5.1% increase in the previous quarter.”

“Capital spending was projected to have risen 2.6%, which would be the first increase since January-March last year.”

Author

Dhwani Mehta

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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