Business confidence in Japan recovers to pre-pandemic levels

Tokyo, Apr 1 (efe-epa).- Confidence in the Japanese economy registered an upturn in March and recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) reported Thursday.

The quarterly economic report of the central bank shows that the confidence index among large companies reached 5 points in March, representing the third consecutive quarterly improvement.

The index rebounded from -10 points in December, after having bottomed out at -34 points in June last year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world’s third-largest economy.

The positive evolution reflects the progressive lifting of measures applied in Japan to contain the virus, among which were some that have damaged domestic consumption and that are still in place, although to a lesser extent, such as the limitations on opening hours of bars and restaurants.

The upturn in the general indicator improves on what analysts predicted, as does that of the confidence index among large companies in the non-manufacturing sector, which rose from -5 points to -1.

The BoJ measures the percentage of companies that believe business conditions are favorable, minus those who believe otherwise, and is seen as a significant advance on Japan’s economic growth.

Among the factors that have contributed to the improvement of the prospects of Japanese companies is the start of the national vaccination campaign at the beginning of February, within which 1 million health professionals have already been inoculated, with the next phase to include the elderly and other risk groups. EFE-EPA

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