Japan exports fall amid slow recovery from pandemic downturn

Japans exports fell at a slower pace in September in a sign that trade damage from the coronavirus pandemic is easing, according to Finance Ministry data released on Monday.

The report showed Japans exports in September declined 4.9% from the same month a year earlier, better than the nearly 15% drop in August.

The nations imports fell 17.2% overall, compared with 20.8% in August.

Exports to China jumped 14%, while shipments to the US inched up 0.7%, in another possible sign of a gradual rebound. By sector, computer exports to the world surged nearly 45%.

Japans export-reliant economy has sunk into recession, with three straight quarters of contraction through June, as the outbreak slammed business activity and stifled trade.

But a recovery in China, where COVID-19 emerged late last year, and recoveries in some other Asian countries are helping Japan regain momentum.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who took office a month ago, left on Monday for Vietnam and Indonesia, where virus cases are relatively low, to drum up business and trade.

His predecessor, Shinzo Abe, had tried to sustain economic growth with his Abenomics package of programs based on zero interest rates and curtailing deflation.

Suga, also from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, is expected to continue those policies.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)