In BoJ’s Regional Economic Report, assessments for two regions, Hokkaido and Tohoku, were downgraded. Hokkaido’s economy has “remained in a severe situation” and has been “more or less flat. Tohoku’s economy has “picked up as a trend” but impact of resurgence of coronavirus appears to be “growing recently”. Assessments of Hokuriku, Kanto-Koshinetsu, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu-Okinawa were left unchanged.
Overall, BoJ said, “many regions — while noting that their economy had remained in a severe situation due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), primarily in consumption of services — reported that, on the whole, it had been on a pick-up trend or had started to pick up.”
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said at the quarterly meeting of regional branch managers, “the pace of the recovery will be modest as caution over the pandemic remains.” Also, “services consumption will remain under pressure for the time being due to a resurgence in COVID-19 infections since last autumn.”
Full report here.
Eurozone CPI finalized at 1.3% yoy in March, EU at 1.7% yoy
Eurozone CPI was finalized at 1.3% yoy in March, up from February’s 0.9% yoy. The highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.57%), followed by energy (+0.43%), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.24%) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.09%).
EU CPI was finalized at 1.7% yoy, up from February’s 1.3% yoy. The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece (-2.0%), Portugal, Malta, Ireland and Slovenia (all 0.1%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Poland (4.4%), Hungary (3.9%), Romania and Luxembourg (both 2.5%). Compared with February, annual inflation fell in three Member States, remained stable in three and rose in twenty one.
Full release here.