Japan Govt Maintains Basic Economic View in May Report

Tokyo, May 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government kept its basic economic view unchanged in a monthly report released Tuesday, while reiterating the need to closely monitor the impact of the conflict in the Middle East. “The Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace, while attention should be given to the effects caused from the situation in the Middle East,” the Cabinet Office said in the report for May, referring to rising import prices, particularly for petrochemical products. The latest report newly noted that the government will take all possible measures to minimize risks stemming from the situation. In April, Japan’s import prices rose 17.5 pct from a year earlier, while the country’s producer prices increased 4.9 pct, according to the government agency. In particular, the government expressed a sense of caution over surging prices of petrochemical products, such as naphtha and benzene. In the May report, the government maintained its assessment on private consumption, the main pillar of domestic demand, saying that it shows “movements of picking up.” It also said that business investment is “picking up,” the same view as in the April report. On corporate profits, the government noted “movements of improvement,” while replacing the phrase “while affected by the U.S. trade policies” from the April report with “attention should be given to the effects caused from the situation in the Middle East.” The government also said that domestic producer prices are rising, instead of rising “moderately.” The government maintained its view on overseas economies, though tweaking the wording to say that global economic uncertainty continues, instead of that uncertainly was growing. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]