Japan’s economy has been improving on the back of the increase in exports and production brought about by the recovery in overseas economies and due to the effects of policy measures targeting durable consumer goods, but it seems that the recovery has been pausing since early autumn.
Exports have recently been more or less flat mainly due to inventory adjustments in IT-related goods and the slowdown in overseas economies. As for private consumption, demand for cars has suffered a reverse following the last-minute increase in demand for energy-efficient cars ahead of the expiration of subsidies. In these circumstances, the increase in production has come to a pause.