Japan s COVID crisis reawakens deflation fears as cash hoarding returns Reuters 1/27/2021
By Leika Kihara and Kaori Kaneko
Popular Searches
TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A spike in coronavirus infections in Japan is driving local households to do what they have always done in times of crisis: spend less and save more, stoking fears of a deeper retail recession and grinding deflation.
Fifty-year-old Hiromi Suzuki is doing just that having quit her job at a Tokyo novelty store in December after the pandemic hit sales. I try not to spend money, she said, walking her dog in the city. Since I don t go out much, I don t buy cosmetics or clothes any more.
Pedestrians wait at the Shibuya crossing near Shibuya Station in Tokyo on Dec. 13 while maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of infections. (The Asahi Shimbun/ Kazuyoshi Sako)
A spike in coronavirus infections in Japan is driving local households to do what they have always done in times of crisis: spend less and save more, stoking fears of a deeper retail recession and grinding deflation.
Fifty-year-old Hiromi Suzuki is doing just that having quit her job at a Tokyo novelty store in December after the pandemic hit sales.
“I try not to spend money,” she said, walking her dog in the city. “Since I don’t go out much, I don’t buy cosmetics or clothes anymore.”
TOKYO (REUTERS) - A spike in coronavirus infections in Japan is driving local households to do what they have always done in times of crisis: Spend less and save more, stoking fears of a deeper retail recession and grinding deflation.
Fifty-year-old Hiromi Suzuki is doing just that, having quit her job at a Tokyo novelty store in December after the pandemic hit sales. I try not to spend money, she said, walking her dog in the city. Since I don t go out much, I don t buy cosmetics or clothes any more.
Ms Suzuki s case exemplifies the trouble Japan faces as Covid-19 state of emergency measures were reinstated in January, hitting spending on services, which makes up one-third of total consumption.