Growing uncertainty due to yen appreciation and concerns over the UK leaving the EU

「The Japanese economy during the six months ended under review maintained a gradual recovery trend overall, despite moving back and forth due to prolonged geopolitical risks, increasingly cautious corporate sentiment amid rising costs and weak personal consumption. Looking ahead, uncertainty is expected to continue amid concerns over the impact of overseas economic conditions and trade-policy developments, as well as continued domestic interest-rate increases, on corporate activity and households.」

「The Japanese economy remained in an extremely uncertain environment as exports slowed due to the strengthening of U.S. tariff policy and trade friction continued, compounded by persistent inflationary pressure, rising interest rates and increasing geopolitical risks.」

「The Japanese economy during the six months ended under review was affected by inflation, yen depreciation, labor shortages, uncertainty caused by the trade policies of the new U.S. administration and heightened geopolitical risks, and remained in an environment of pronounced uncertainty.」

「The Japanese economy during the six months ended under review was affected by high prices weighing on personal consumption, slowing overseas economies including China, the Noto Peninsula earthquake at the beginning of the year and production stoppages in the automobile industry, causing the economic recovery to stall. The semiconductor industry remained sluggish in the near term, although a recovery was expected from the summer onward, while prices in the real-estate industry also remained high, leaving a severe business environment.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review was affected by high prices weighing on consumption, slowing overseas economies, the Noto Peninsula earthquake and production stoppages in the automobile industry, causing the economic recovery to stall. In addition, the Group's main business environment remained severe, with the semiconductor industry continuing to slow and real-estate prices remaining high.」

「The Japanese economy during the consolidated fiscal year under review was on a gradual recovery track as economic and social activity moved toward normalization following the end of the disruption caused by the pandemic. However, uncertainty over the outlook continued due to downward pressures including the exhaustion of the recovery in demand, slowing overseas economies, yen depreciation, disruption caused by heightened war and geopolitical risks, and a downturn in the semiconductor market.」

「The Japanese economy during the first nine months of the fiscal year under review was on a gradual recovery track as economic and social activity moved toward normalization following the end of the disruption caused by the pandemic. However, uncertainty over the outlook continued due to persistently high raw-material prices and energy costs, higher living costs caused by inflation, yen depreciation, slowing growth in overseas economies including China, and chronic labor shortages.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review was on a gradual recovery track as economic and social activity moved more rapidly toward normalization following the end of the disruption caused by the prolonged pandemic. However, uncertainty over the outlook continued due to the impact of slowing overseas economies, in addition to soaring resource and raw-material prices, labor shortages and higher living costs caused by inflation.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review was affected by many factors weighing on economic activity, including soaring resource and raw-material prices, labor shortages and higher living costs due to inflation, even as the prolonged pandemic finally began to subside and the shift toward a post-pandemic economy accelerated. Uncertainty over the outlook continued.」

「The Japanese economy during the consolidated fiscal year under review was generally recovering as the prolonged impact of the pandemic subsided. However, economic activity remained sluggish and uncertainty over the outlook continued due to a sharp increase in new infections toward fiscal year-end, geopolitical risks related to the Russia-Ukraine situation, soaring resource prices and logistics costs, yen depreciation and historically high inflation.」

「The Japanese economy during the first nine months of the fiscal year under review was recovering as restrictions on economic activity related to the pandemic were gradually lifted and society moved toward normalization. However, the economy remained complex, with many factors weighing on it, including geopolitical risks associated with the Russia-Ukraine situation, rising resource prices and higher prices for essential goods due to yen depreciation.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review was on a gradual recovery track as the spread of the novel coronavirus disease began to ease. However, downward pressure from the Russia-Ukraine situation, yen depreciation and persistently high raw-material prices also affected the economy, resulting in a complex interplay of positive and negative factors.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review remained sluggish due to the impact of priority preventive measures imposed in response to renewed infections and soaring raw-material prices associated with the situation in Ukraine. Although the measures have since been lifted and domestic economic activity is recovering, the outlook remains uncertain due to rising geopolitical uncertainty.」

「The Japanese economy during the consolidated fiscal year under review remained in a generally severe environment due to repeated states of emergency and priority preventive measures imposed in response to the novel coronavirus disease. However, vaccination coverage expanded and the economy was on a gradual recovery track toward the second half of the fiscal year. At present, infections with new variants of the novel coronavirus disease are again spreading, and uncertainty over the outlook continues.」

「The Japanese economy during the first nine months of the fiscal year under review temporarily stalled as infections with the novel coronavirus disease spread again, but remained on a gradual recovery track as the number of new cases declined with the spread of vaccinations. In manufacturing-related areas in which the Group is primarily involved, the impact of automobile production cuts caused by the semiconductor shortage was spreading to related industries, but the overall trend was upward due to increasing exports and capital investment accompanying the recovery in overseas economies.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review remained in a severe environment due to the impact of states of emergency and priority preventive measures imposed in response to the novel coronavirus disease. However, the economy was on a gradual recovery track as vaccination coverage expanded, overseas economies recovered and personal consumption began to improve. In particular, manufacturing-related areas in which the Group is involved showed a significant overall recovery, with exports of automobiles and semiconductors trending upward. Nevertheless, uncertainty over the outlook continued because the pace of recovery differed significantly by industry and region and infections were again spreading, particularly in Tokyo.」

「Although the threat posed by the novel coronavirus disease remained, the Japanese economy returned to a gradual recovery track following the lifting of the state of emergency and other measures. In particular, in manufacturing-related areas in which the Group is primarily involved, exports and production activity began to expand as overseas economies, including the United States and China, recovered. However, downside risks remained due to renewed infections and the reissuance of a state of emergency, and uncertainty over the outlook continued.」

「The Japanese economy during the consolidated fiscal year under review remained in a severe and uncertain situation. The economy deteriorated sharply from the spring under the unprecedented threat posed by the novel coronavirus disease, and although there were signs of a gradual recovery for a time, infections began to spread again.」

「The Japanese economy during the first nine months of the fiscal year under review showed signs of recovery, although the prolonged deterioration since the Lehman shock continued under the impact of U.S.-China trade friction and the novel coronavirus disease. Economic activity gradually resumed and began to recover, although the pace varied by industry. However, the timing of the end of the pandemic remains unclear, conditions remain severe and the outlook continues to be uncertain.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review continued to deteriorate rapidly as economic activity stagnated under the impact of the novel coronavirus disease. Following the lifting of the state of emergency at the end of May, economic activity resumed and the initial sharp decline eventually bottomed out as activity gradually restarted. However, infections continued to rise in emerging economies such as Brazil, while infections again showed an upward trend in the United States and Japan after economic activity resumed, and the uncertainty remained severe.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review deteriorated sharply under the impact of the novel coronavirus disease, amid talk that the economy was entering a recession. In manufacturing, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and difficulties procuring components occurred as a result of the pandemic. In non-manufacturing, economic activity was constrained by declining inbound demand and calls for people to refrain from going out, weighing on the economy.」

「The Japanese economy during the consolidated fiscal year under review continued to experience deteriorating business sentiment, particularly in manufacturing, as exports declined and companies' willingness to invest in capital equipment weakened against the backdrop of U.S.-China trade friction and the slowdown in overseas economies.」

「The Japanese economy during the first nine months of the fiscal year under review remained under pressure, particularly in manufacturing, due to the intensification of U.S.-China trade friction and the slowdown in overseas economies, including concerns over an economic slowdown in China.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review remained under pressure, particularly in manufacturing, due to worsening overseas conditions, including U.S.-China trade friction and the slowdown in the Chinese economy. Labor supply and demand also remained tight, and rising labor costs associated with labor shortages continued to weigh on business sentiment, leaving the outlook uncertain.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review was affected by a combination of sluggish Chinese economic growth, weak IT demand, chronic labor shortages and a rebound in crude oil prices, which weighed on business sentiment across a broad range of industries.」

「Although corporate performance itself remained strong, concerns over U.S.-China trade friction and soaring raw-material prices, together with natural disasters and other factors, made the stagnation in business sentiment increasingly apparent, raising concerns over the sustainability of the economic recovery that had continued since 2012.」

「The Japanese economy during the first half of the fiscal year under review continued to expand, but improvement in business conditions paused somewhat due to rising raw-material prices, including crude oil. Together with concerns over trade friction, this left the economic outlook uncertain.」

「The Japanese economy during the first quarter of the fiscal year under review remained on a gradual recovery track, supported by firm domestic and overseas demand, although the pace of growth showed some signs of slowing due to yen appreciation and rising crude oil prices.」

「Regarding the outlook for the Japanese economy from the next period onward, geopolitical risks, including an economic downturn in Asia and heightened tensions, are increasing. Nevertheless, exports are expected to continue growing against the backdrop of a recovering global economy, while domestic demand is also expected to increase, allowing the economy to remain on a recovery track.」

「In addition to growing demand from Asia for IT and infrastructure-related services, business sentiment in sectors such as machinery and materials improved as uncertainty over the outlook in Europe and the United States eased somewhat.」

「Looking ahead, in addition to uncertainty surrounding political conditions overseas, concerns about rising labor costs caused by labor shortages led to a cautious stance, and the outlook was forecast to deteriorate.」

「The Japanese economy remained unstable during the consolidated fiscal year amid various factors, including the introduction of negative interest rates in January, the Kumamoto earthquake and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. However, in the second half of the year, the yen weakened as global equity markets rose following the US presidential election and crude oil prices recovered, allowing the economy to recover somewhat by year-end.」

「Amid the slowdown in emerging-market economies and concerns over the UK leaving the EU, the yen appreciated against other currencies, making the uncertainty surrounding the outlook increasingly pronounced.」