The government compiled its monthly economic report for February and revised its assessment of the economy downward for the first time in three months. In addition to sluggish consumer spending due to the impact of high prices, production activity has also declined due to the suspension of operations at automakers' factories.
On the 21st, the government held a meeting of relevant ministers and compiled the monthly economic report for February.
Regarding the current state of the economy, the economy was revised downward for the first time in three months since November last year, stating that the economy is ``seeming to be at a standstill, but is recovering moderately.''
Previously, the company had said, ``Although there are signs of slowdown in some areas, the economy is recovering slowly.''
The main factor was sluggish personal consumption.
In addition to a decline in food purchases due to the impact of high prices, sales of winter clothing also fell, and the company downgraded its assessment, saying that ``the recovery appears to be stalling.''
In addition, ``production'' was affected by Daihatsu Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation suspending production lines at their factories due to fraud related to certification acquisition, and ``although it was heading toward recovery, production activity has recently declined.'' Revised downward.
Regarding the future, it points out that it is necessary to pay close attention to the risks of a downturn in overseas economies, such as the stagnation of the real estate market in China, as well as the economic impact of the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
Economic Revitalization Minister Shindo “Expects consumption to pick up as income environment improves”
Regarding the downward revision of the economic outlook in February's monthly economic report, Minister of State for Economic Revitalization Shindo pointed out at a press conference that the cause was that wage increases were not keeping up with prices and consumption was weak. ``Since there is a movement toward higher wages than last year in this spring labor union, we can expect consumption to move from a temporary stagnation to a recovery as the income environment improves.''