Japan Capex Points to Strong Growth, But Outlook Murky
JAPAN, GROWTH, GDP, BOJ, BANK OF JAPAN, ECONOMY, DEFLATION, STIMULUS, RATES, MONETARY POLICY, CENTRAL BANK, SPENDING
Reuters
| 01 Dec 2010 | 08:49 PM ET
Japanese firms raised capital spending in July-September from a year earlier, posting the first
annual gain since 2007, but a dip in demand both at home and abroad could keep companies from boosting business spending in the coming months.
The data, which is used to calculate revised gross domestic product figures for the same period due out at 8:50 a.m. on Dec. 9 (2350 GMT on Dec. 8), points to an upward revision to the third-quarter growth estimate.
This will do little to cheer policymakers wary as the economy is expected to contract in the fourth quarter as exports slow and the effect on consumption of government stimulus vanishes.
Japan's economy may resume growing next year, but risks to the outlook will keep the Bank of Japan under pressure to stick to its very loose monetary policy.
"The rise in capital spending is expected to mean the capex component in revised GDP being raised," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.
"But looking at details in the data such as recurring profit levels, you can see that the stronger yen and a slowdown in overseas economies are affecting the economy."
The government's initial estimate showed GDP in the third quarter grew 0.9 percent.
Slow Improvement
Japan's capital spending has been slowly improving since last year as the economy has recovered from the the global financial crisis that caused corporate profits and investments to plummet.
The 5 percent rise in capital spending in the third quarter comes after a 1.7 percent drop the previous quarter, led by auto makers and electronic device makers, Ministry of Finance data
showed on Thursday.
Compared with April-June, capital spending excluding software was up 1.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, posting a second straight quarter of rises, MOF data showed.
Firms' recurring profits rose 54.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, slower than the annual growth of 83.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Sales grew 6.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to the quarterly data, which covered 23,009 companies capitalised at 10 million yen ($120,000) or more. That
was also slower than a 20.3 percent annual rise in sales in the second quarter.
Preliminary GDP data showed Japan's economy grew 0.9 percent, or an annualised 3.9 percent, in the third quarter as expiring government stimulus measures gave a boost to private consumption.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the economy to shrink 0.1 percent in October-December as exports slow and auto output slumps after the expiry of government incentives for purchases of low-emission cars.
The economy is seen likely to resume growing next year on the back of exports to fast-growing Asia, albeit at a moderate pace.
The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy in October by pledging to keep rates effectively at zero until the end of deflation is in sight and to spend 5 trillion yen ($60 billion) on assets ranging from government bonds to corporate debt.
The BOJ has said that boosting the size of the fund is a clear option if the looming slowdown proves worse than expected. But the yen's retreat from 15-year highs scaled early last month
makes any radical near-term action unlikely.