Signs point to growth in Japan

Growth paused in the second quarter, but DBS says leading indicators point to an improvement in the next three months.

DBS Group Research noted:

GDP growth seems to have paused in 2Q after a strong expansion of 4.7% QoQ saar in 1Q. Industrial production plunged -3.1% MoM sa in May (-2.6% 3M/3M saar). PMI manufacturing dropped to 49.9 in June, falling below the neutral mark of 50 for the first time so far this year.

Although investment and consumption have both remained solid due to reconstruction and government subsidies on car purchases, exports have remained weak and feeble, restricting the overall growth performance.

That said, as the concerns over the European debt crisis have subsided, some of the leading indicators suggest a modest improvement in the growth momentum in 2H. The Tankan survey on large enterprises in the manufacturing industry showed an increase in business confidence in 3Q (+1, versus -3 in 2Q).

The forecast of industrial production also points to a recovery in growth to more than 2% MoM sa in June and July. As such, we think the Bank of Japan will opt for a wait and see approach while they monitor the latest development in the economic trend. No policy change is expected at the BOJ meeting on July 12th.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia