Tokyo: The Japanese government has maintained its view that the country’s economy has seen increased weakness in some sectors while some others are picking up.
“The economy shows increased weakness in some parts, though it continued picking up amid severe conditions due to the coronavirus,” the Cabinet Office said in its July economic assessment released on Monday.
The office said the private consumption “has shown further weakness recently, especially in services spending”.
“Especially, spending on entertainment-related activities picked up in late June. But this month, consumption became sluggish again as a whole, so we ended up maintaining the assessment,” a government official said.
In terms of components, the office upgraded the view on corporate business sentiment, saying that it shows “movements of picking up, although some severe aspects remain”.
According to the report, exports “continue to increase moderately”, and business investment and industrial production are both “picking up”.
The latest overall economic view of the government was disclosed after Tokyo entered the fourth state of emergency on July 12 due to a surge in Covid-19 infections.
The latest state of emergency will last until August 22 for Tokyo and Okinawa prefecture, covering the entire period of the Olympics Games from Friday to August 8.
Under the emergency, restaurants and bars in the two places are prohibited from offering alcoholic drinks.
Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa prefectures surrounding Tokyo, as well as Osaka, are under a quasi-emergency, which allows bars and restaurants serving alcohol until 7 p.m. with certain precautions.
