Japan says that economic conditions are ‘severe’, worst view in nearly 7 years

Japan downgrades its economic assessment for the month of March

Japan
  • Sees economy in a ‘severe situation, extremely depressed by the coronavirus’
  • First time removing the word ‘recovering’ since July 2013
  • Conditions likely to remain severe due to the influence of the disease
  • Economy is worsening at a pace comparable to when the 2011 earthquake struck
  • And towards levels last seen during the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008
  • The damage is as bad as those two events put together
The prior assessment can be foundĀ here. This doesn’t come as a surprise as we are seeing an unprecedented decline in economic sentiment and real conditions across the globe.
Expect this view to stay the course so long as the virus outbreak continues to keep the world in lockdown mode, with Japan also on the verge of starting their own.