Asian Update: Japan’s Business Confidence Hikes

Japan’s manufacturers are still looking unbothered by the pandemic situation in the country. In the latest data on the sector’s business confidence index released on Wednesday, the indicator rose by 25 basis points in July. It extends the advance recorded in June, which showed a 22-point improvement. The actual result is also the highest so far in more than two years.

Analysts are expressing their excitement for July’s achievement. They also added that the sector benefited greatly from the global economic recovery as more citizens got vaccinated.

As of this writing, more than 12% of the global population has received full immunization. The world’s leading economies top the charts, with some nearing the 50% vaccination rate threshold as of late.

Besides, Japan’s exports benefited from the recovery, being one of the world’s biggest suppliers of automobiles and electronic parts. It managed to clock in strong international orders despite the supply chain bottlenecks ignited by the global shortage of semiconductors.

The poll conducted from June 20 to July 9 has spared the declaration of a state of emergency in the capital city.

Tokyo has been put under the maximum amount of restriction for the fourth time, despite the Summer Olympics happening from July 23 through August 8. With the new set of curbs, experts in the field noted that business sentiment across different sectors remains highly diverse from one another.

The same positive trajectory might not come from Japan’s businesses involved in the services sector. It is due to the new set of curbs preventing entities from operating events at 50% capacity. The latter also has to weather the subdued consumer spending as citizens cut down on their non-essential activities.

Data released earlier shows a record-high amount of deposits made by Japanese citizens last month.

Singapore Economy Impresses the Market

Meanwhile, in Japan’s neighboring country, Singapore’s economy poses a nearly 15% hike during the second quarter.

The Asian tiger updated a 14.3% gross domestic product growth compared to the same period last year.

Like Japan, the country benefited from the global reopening of trade as vaccinations calmed the jitters down.

For the record, Southeast Asia’s leading economy posted a 13.3% GDP slump during the same period in 2021. It is due to the pandemic fallout, where the country failed to curb the spread of the virus among its migrant workers.

Despite the recent fete, the economy is still down by 2% in Q2. Nevertheless, a silver lining presents itself as vaccinations accelerate in Asia.