The shock was much worse than expected. All Japanese economists estimated that the increase in the consumption tax, from 8 to 10% last October, would be a severe blow to activity in the Archipelago. This increase in “VAT”, intended to finance the costly Japanese social system, had been announced for a long time.
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The Japanese economy contracted as expected in the last quarter of 2019 but by 6.3% on an annualized basis (1.6% from one quarter to the next), the government announced on Monday, much more than the expert expectations. Those interviewed by the Bloomberg agency thus expected a fall of 3.8%. This bad figure - the worst in more than five years - corresponds to the observations of practitioners in the field. " The activity is not going well in stores, " warns a senior executive of French luxury in Japan. According to all available reports, the Japanese have been brutally cutting their non-essential spending since October. Massive support plans
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