Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday the government plans to ease the impact of rising electricity prices on the public by awarding power-saving households points that can be used to help lower their utility bills. At the first meeting of a government task force on rising prices ahead of a House of Councilors election next
With the yen at a 24-year low, Tokyo stocks down the most since March and bond yields hitting their ceiling, the Bank of Japan is under duress having to defend a policy the rest of the world is quickly moving on from. In his clearest warning yet on the yen’s weakness, BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda,
Japan’s current account surplus shrank 55.6% in April from a year earlier to ¥501.1 billion ($3.8 billion), government data showed Wednesday, as imports grew to their highest level in more than 20 years on soaring energy costs due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade,
Fumio Kishida’s emergence last year as Japan’s third prime minister in 13 months prompted worry that Tokyo was sinking into another period of revolving-door leadership. He now looks increasingly likely to govern the country for years. Kishida’s tough stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and cautious response to the omicron variant surge of the coronavirus
The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet rose to 61.5%, the highest since he took office in October last year, as the government starts easing COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday. In the two-day telephone survey from Saturday, the rating was up from 58.7% about a month ago. It
The Japanese government is planning to — gingerly — reopen the country to foreign tourists. Successive administrations have opted for caution as they balanced the public health and safety impacts of reopening against the economic losses. Now, however, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seems ready to explore a more permissive policy to begin
Japanese mother of three Maiko Takahashi was never one to pinch pennies or accept hand-me-downs for her children even though circumstances for her single-income family have always been fairly modest. But times have changed. Nowadays, she has no trouble with used clothes and her pursuit of bargains and scrimping on the most trifling costs borders
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday rapid currency moves are “unfavorable” for many parties, amid growing concern about the negative impact of a weak yen on the fragile economic recovery at home. Speaking at a news conference, Kishida said currency levels reflect the outcome of economic and monetary policies, expressing hope that the Bank of
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday compiled a package of new economic measures featuring ¥6.2 trillion in spending to fend off the impact of booming oil and other commodity prices. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting geopolitical tensions accelerating an existing global wave of inflation that has been seeping into
Japan’s current account balance swung back into the black in February from its second-biggest deficit on record in the previous month, providing some respite for policymakers amid a deterioration in economic fundamentals. Soaring fuel costs and a weak yen have expanded the nation’s trade deficit in recent months, more than offsetting heavy returns on investment
