First, the effects of the bursting of the bubble overlapped. Japanese firms were busy resolving “three excesses” of debt, employment, and business capacity that had piled up during the bubble period, and did not have leeway to pursue proactive economic activity. Second, economic structural reform was delayed, namely, labor and capital did not smoothly move from low-productivity areas to high-productivity areas.
We are also closely monitoring the impact of the recent elections in the U.S. on trade given that the U.S. accounts for about 7 percent of Kenya’s total exports; largely through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) framework.