The biggest loss for Japanese companies in 11 years .. What about the German economy?

The profits of Japanese companies recorded the largest decline on an annual basis in 11 years, during the first quarter of the current fiscal year that began in early April, while Germany expected a faster recovery from the Corona virus crisis.

Japanese Finance Ministry data showed that corporate profits fell by more than 46%, to 12.4 trillion yen ($ 117 billion).

A report issued by the ministry attributed the continued decline in profits for the fifth consecutive quarter to the recession of the economy and the repercussions of the Corona pandemic.

Japanese companies' investments declined during the first quarter of the current fiscal year by more than 11% annually to reach 9.6 trillion yen, while their sales declined by 17.7% to 284.7 trillion yen during the same period.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the Japanese economy recorded a record contraction of 27.8%, affected by the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic and the increase in consumption tax in Japan, so that GDP continued to shrink for the third consecutive quarter.

An economy is considered to be in an official recession if it shrinks for two consecutive quarters.

Expectations

In Germany, Economy Minister Peter Altmayer said today, Tuesday, that his country expects a rapid economic recovery from the shock of the Corona virus.

Altmire added that he does not expect the authorities to impose a new round of isolation measures, as happened in March and April.

He indicated that his country's economy had started the process of catching up after the closure last spring.

Altmire told reporters - during the presentation of updated growth forecasts - that the government had revised the economic outlook for the current year upwards, to record the economy falling by 5.8% compared to 6.3% in previous expectations.

He stated that this decline - although modified in the affirmative - will remain the worst in the country's post-war history.

On the other hand, the minister became a little more pessimistic in his outlook to the next year, as he expects the country to achieve a growth of 4.4%, after the government had expected a growth of 5.2%.

In the second quarter of this year, economic output declined by about 10% compared to the previous quarter due to restrictions imposed on public life as a result of the pandemic.

Recently, there have been signs that the economy is slowly recovering, however some sectors such as tourism and aviation remain severely affected.