Japan Govt Upgrades View on Corporate Profits in Feb. Report

Tokyo, Feb. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government raised its assessment of corporate profits for the first time in 11 months on Tuesday, while keeping its overall economic assessment basically unchanged. In its monthly economic report for February, the Cabinet Office said, “Corporate profits, while affected by the U.S. trade policies, show movements of improvement.” This marked an upgrade from the January view that corporate profit improvement “appears to be pausing, while the effects caused from the U.S. trade policies are seen mainly in the automotive industry.” The government also reflected the auto industry’s improvement in its overall economic assessment, saying, “The Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace, while the effects caused from the U.S. trade policies remain.” Until January, it had said, “The effects caused from the U.S. trade policies are seen mainly in the automotive industry.” Although the government stopped short of upgrading the basic view in February, the change in wording is attributed to “an overall trend of improvement,” a Cabinet Office official said. Elsewhere in the February report, the government said that consumer prices “have been rising at a slower tempo recently,” changing the wording from “have been rising” in the previous report. Looking ahead, the government maintained its economic outlook, noting that “attention should be given to downside risks,” such as price movements and U.S. tariffs. The government expressed its determination to “work for early passage of the fiscal 2026 budget and the related bills.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]