Japan’s sinking exports raise risks of prolonged economic downturn – Gulf Today

Japan’s sinking exports raise risks of prolonged economic downturn – Gulf Today

Japan's sinking exports raise risks of prolonged economic downturn

5 hours ago

People, wearing a mask, walk on a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo on Monday. Associated Press

Japan's exports plunged at a double-digit pace for the fourth month in a row in June, backing signs the coronavirus crisis has knocked the economy into its worst postwar recession and raising the spectre of a longer and more painful global downturn.

US-bound Japanese shipments nearly halved again due to plummeting demand for cars and autoparts, and exports to China remained weak, pointing to the absence of a strong growth engine for the world economy.

Ministry of Finance (MOF) data showed on Monday that Japan's exports dived 26.2 per cent in June from a year earlier, bigger than a 24.9 per cent decline seen by economists in a Reuters poll.

The contraction slowed slightly from the prior month's 28.3 per cent fall - the worst downturn since September 2009.

Global demand for cars and other durable goods has sunk since March as the pandemic prompted many countries to lockdown.

Though more countries have now started re-opening their economies, analysts say the trade data could diminish hopes for a quick rebound in global demand and Japan's export-led economy, especially given the