日本の新聞記事を読んでいるとアベノミクスはいい事ずくめ。だが、ちょっと目を英字新聞に向けるとちょっと様相が変ってくるところが面白い。
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Japan's economy grows at slower pace, raise stakes for Abenomics
By Stanley White and Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:08pm EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy grew at a much slower pace than expected at the end of last year, posing a challenge to policymakers as massive government stimulus efforts showed few signs of sparking momentum in consumption and exports.
The data showing disappointing private consumption, business investment and shipments came as the Bank of Japan met to review its ultra-easy policy, with markets widely expecting the central bank to hold firm to the current pace of bond-buying stimulus.
However, pressure is likely to mount on the BOJ and the government to do more in coming months, especially if a planned sales tax hike in April proves more damaging to growth than expected.
The Cabinet Office said on Monday that the economy grew 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, well below the median estimate for a 0.7 percent increase and followed 0.3 percent growth in July-September.
It was the fourth successive quarter of growth, which is the best run for the world's third-largest economy in more than three years.
Economists still expect that growth will accelerate in the current quarter as shoppers buy more goods before the tax hike, but any further disappointments could increase the need for further fiscal and monetary stimulus.
"I am not so concerned about domestic demand given a buying rush ahead of a sales tax hike in April will play out more strongly in the current quarter," said Taro Saito, senior economist at NLI Research Institute.
"What's more worrying is sluggish exports despite long-expected impact of a weak yen on boosting external demand."
Export growth has remained sluggish over recent quarters, partly reflecting softer demand in Asian markets though some of it also underlined the shift by Japanese companies of their manufacturing plants to offshore centers.
The weak external sector is a worry for Japan especially as the initial burst of momentum created by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's unprecedented monetary and fiscal expansionary policies start to fade.
After decades of lackluster growth, during which time China overtook Japan as the world's second-biggest economy, Abe swept to power in December 2012 with a bold plan to end deflation and strengthen economic reforms.
His policies, dubbed Abenomics, helped Japan's economy speed past many of its Group of seven counterparts in the first half of last year, but the latest data will raise doubts about Abe's strategy.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average .N225 opened higher but then fell 0.4 percent as the slower-than-expected growth weighed on sentiment. It has since rebounded 0.3 percent.
On an annualized basis, Japan's economy grew 1.0 percent, below the median estimate for a 2.8 percent rise and 3.2 percent annualized growth in the United States in the same quarter, the Cabinet Office data showed.
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