Abenomics Positive Impact Erased in Last 6 Months

June 24, 2016 Share Print 0

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s limping “Abenomics” revival programme suffered a fresh blow on Friday when Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent the yen soaring and threatened to make companies and consumers even more cautious.

The ‘Vote Leave’ campaign claimed unexpected victory over its ‘Britain Stronger in Europe’ rival, after 52 percent of Britons voted to support their plan to leave the 28-nation club.

Abe took office in December 2012 pledging to end decades of deflation in Japan and generate growth in an economy plagued by a shrinking, fast-ageing population with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal spending and reforms.

But the formula has largely failed. The central bank’s aggressive money-printing has failed to accelerate inflation, and anaemic economic growth has discouraged firms from raising wages and households from spending.

“In terms of Abenomics, it was already dead in the water. This will certainly sink it a bit further,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asia studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.

The yen, seen as a safe-haven currency, soared briefly above 100 to the dollar, prompting Finance Minister Taro Aso to signal a readiness to intervene to stem excessive strength.

via Reuters

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Bio
Twitter
Google+
Latest Posts

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.