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

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.”