Japan’s economy is moving at a quicker pace than anticipated. Data released Monday revealed that April exports climbed 8.0 percent from a year earlier, beating expectations and highlighting a steady recovery in export demand.
At the same time, the rate of imports fell more than predicted, dropping 4.2 percent on-year, compared with expectations for a 1.5 percent decline.
The report was released after the International Monetary Fund had warned the Bank of Japan) that the central bank's forecasts for hitting its 2 percent inflation target were likely "overly optimistic." The IMF suggested that rather than depend on the yen weakness, Tokyo should increase its efforts at fiscal restructuring.
Yen Unchanged
In reaction to the data, trading of the Japanese yen remained unchanged, while the U.S. dollar stood at 121.55 yen. The Nikkei hit a fresh 15-year high at the start of trade.
Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) for March rose 2.2 percent from the previous year, giving the BOJ reason to postpone its original plans of reaching its target inflation rate to September 2016.
"The exports numbers continue to reinforce our view that the growth component of Japan is starting to improve. The structural reform process is clearly going to be tough and slower, but we're now forecasting that exports will be 33 percent of Japan's growth (from the current 29 percent) from now through to 2019," said Martin Lakos, a director with Macquarie.
"We're not expecting the lights to be blown out or shot up in terms of growth but we're looking for positive growth for the next three years from now till 2017, in the region from now up till about 1.5-2 percent," he added.