For your info..I wonder if this could ease the speculation on the JPY getting stronger based on speculation of the BOJ raising interest rates soon. I guess we will soon see with the JPY economic data being released.
Japan's Growth
Likely Slackened
In First Quarter
By LEIKA KIHARA
May 13, 2006; Page A6
TOKYO -- Japan's economic growth slowed sharply during the year's first three months, as private consumption and capital spending took a break from the previous quarter's brisk performance, economists expect data due in the coming week to show.
Many analysts view the slowdown as temporary and expect the economy to continue to expand amid strong demand for Japanese goods at home and abroad. But the weak numbers could dissuade the Bank of Japan from upgrading its assessment of the economy in its monthly report, a person close to the central bank said.
The gross-domestic-product figures and the central-bank report are to be issued Friday.
GDP for the first quarter likely rose 0.2% in price-adjusted terms from the previous quarter, or an annualized 1%, according to an average estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
It would mark the fifth-straight quarter of expansion but would be sharply lower than quarter-to-quarter growth of 1.3%, or an annualized 5.4% expansion, for October through December.
The presumed slackening, however, isn't likely to change the government's or the market's view that the economy remains in an uptrend.
"The economy continues to recover," said Naoki Iizuka, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.
Private consumption ground to a halt largely in reaction to a 0.9% increase for October through December, a period when exceptionally cold weather boosted demand for winter clothing and heating equipment, economists say.
A weak GDP reading isn't likely to discourage the Bank of Japan from raising its short-term interest-rate target from zero as early as next month, because the central bank is convinced that the current economic strength is for real, the person close to the central bank said.
Still, the central bank might avoid using the term "expansion" to describe the state of the economy -- language it had previously considered using -- to avoid causing excessive market speculation about an interest-rate move, the person said.
Japan's Growth
Likely Slackened
In First Quarter
By LEIKA KIHARA
May 13, 2006; Page A6
TOKYO -- Japan's economic growth slowed sharply during the year's first three months, as private consumption and capital spending took a break from the previous quarter's brisk performance, economists expect data due in the coming week to show.
Many analysts view the slowdown as temporary and expect the economy to continue to expand amid strong demand for Japanese goods at home and abroad. But the weak numbers could dissuade the Bank of Japan from upgrading its assessment of the economy in its monthly report, a person close to the central bank said.
The gross-domestic-product figures and the central-bank report are to be issued Friday.
GDP for the first quarter likely rose 0.2% in price-adjusted terms from the previous quarter, or an annualized 1%, according to an average estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
It would mark the fifth-straight quarter of expansion but would be sharply lower than quarter-to-quarter growth of 1.3%, or an annualized 5.4% expansion, for October through December.
The presumed slackening, however, isn't likely to change the government's or the market's view that the economy remains in an uptrend.
"The economy continues to recover," said Naoki Iizuka, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.
Private consumption ground to a halt largely in reaction to a 0.9% increase for October through December, a period when exceptionally cold weather boosted demand for winter clothing and heating equipment, economists say.
A weak GDP reading isn't likely to discourage the Bank of Japan from raising its short-term interest-rate target from zero as early as next month, because the central bank is convinced that the current economic strength is for real, the person close to the central bank said.
Still, the central bank might avoid using the term "expansion" to describe the state of the economy -- language it had previously considered using -- to avoid causing excessive market speculation about an interest-rate move, the person said.