Economy of Japan

Stocks plunged in Tokyo on Monday after the yen surged in reaction to Shigeru Ishiba's election last week as the head of Japan's ruling party, which boosted expectations the Bank of Japan will continue hiking interest rates.

Japanese stocks surged and markets across Asia started strong on Friday, tracking substantial gains on Wall Street after encouraging U.S. retail sales data reassured investors about the health of the world's biggest economy.

The Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate and revealed plans to halve its bond purchases in actions that underscore its determination to normalize its policy.

Japan's central bank on March 19 scrapped its negative interest rate as it finally began unwinding one of the world's most aggressive monetary easing programs.

The maverick policy dating back to 2013 was aimed at jump-starting economic growth and inflation after the country's "lost decades" of stagnant activity and prices in the world's number four economy.

Japan's economy has unexpectedly contracted, leading the country to slip from its position as the world's third-largest economy to the fourth spot, now behind Germany.

Japan has slipped to the world's fourth-largest economy, as government data released Thursday showed it fell behind Germany's in 2023.

The numbers highlight how the Japanese economy has gradually lost its competitiveness and productivity while the population shrinks as Japanese people age and have fewer children, analysts say.

Japan suffered a trade deficit last month as exports sank for the first time in more than two years, dragged down by a slowdown overseas.

Japan's trade deficit totaled 78.7 billion yen ($539 million), the Finance Ministry said yesterday, the first trade deficit for the world's third largest economy in two months.

Slovenia's merchandise exports increased by 0.8% year-on-year in June to hit an all-time monthly high of €5.3 billion. With imports falling over the same period, the national Statistics Office also reported the highest surplus on record.

China's exports tumbled 12.4 percent in June from a year earlier as demand weakened after central banks raised interest rates to curb inflation even as Chinese leaders struggled to keep a post-COVID recovery from faltering.

Customs data released yesterday showed imports slid 6.8 percent to $214.7 billion.

Japan's consumer prices rose 3.4 percent on-year in April, in line with market expectations, government data showed on May 19.    

The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, followed a 3.1 percent rise recorded in both March and February.