For someone like Sumako Furihata, who owns two small restaurants in Tokyo's Akasaka nightlife district, the coronavirus pandemic has been a nightmare that crushed sales and put her in a difficult situation.
TOKYO - For someone like Sumako Furihata, who owns two small restaurants in Tokyo’s Akasaka nightlife district, the coronavirus pandemic has been a nightmare that crushed sales and put her in a difficult situation.
“The pace of fall in sales is much faster than during the global financial crisis,” said Furihata, who has temporarily shut down one of her restaurants. “Prices for ‘stay-at-home’ related products such as foods are firm. But overall, there’s an increasing risk Japan may slip back into deflation,” said Hiroshi Ugai, chief economist at JPMorgan Securities Japan.
The Nowcast private survey that captures real-time consumption trends – making it a leading indicator of government data – showed consumer spending index falling nearly 10% for hotels, about 28% for amusement parks, 14% for airplane tickets and more than 16% for train tickets during March 16-31, compared with a year earlier.
The number of people using major train stations such as Tokyo, Shinjuku and Ueno dropped more than 70% on April 13 from a year earlier, and that of western Osaka station fell more than 60%, according to data compiled by the government. Liquor shops saw spending rise 10% as bars closed. Supermarkets saw more than a 14% rise in consumption, as they catered to households preparing more food at home.Already, Japan is seeing bankruptcies creep up, particularly in the service sector. If the pandemic persists, the number could spike and lead to more job losses. That would give households less to spend and fewer things to buy, thus putting more downward pressure on prices, analysts say.
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