Japan Consumer Sentiment Worsens in March amid Iran Conflict

Tokyo, April 9 (Jiji Press)–Consumer sentiment in Japan declined in March, down for the first time in three months, amid growing tensions over Iran, a Cabinet Office survey showed on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index, which measures sentiment among households with two or more members, fell 6.4 points from the previous month to 33.3. This was the largest drop since April 2020, when the first state of emergency was declared amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Office lowered its basic assessment on the sentiment, saying it is weakening. In the previous month, it said the sentiment was showing signs of improvement. All four subindexes, for living conditions, income growth, the employment environment, and willingness to buy durable consumer goods, declined. A Cabinet Office official said that uncertainty about the future pushed down consumer sentiment amid rising crude oil prices. The proportion of respondents who said that oil prices would be higher in a year’s time was 93.1 pct, up by 7.5 percentage points. Over 50 pct said that prices would be 5 pct or more higher. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]