Japanese GDP Tumbles, Finance Minister Resigns
Posted on 17. Feb, 2009 by admin in JPY Economic News, Japanese Yen, Japanese Yen Currency
The Japanese economy has now experienced declining GDP for the third consecutive quarter. GDP for the fourth quarter last year fell 3.3%. Exports also fell a staggering 14%. This helped to send the USD/JPY higher by almost 1% to 92.43.
In an unrelated event, Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he will resign from his post. The resignation stems from his unusual behavior at the G7 summit. Some attribute his bizarre behavior at a press conference because he was under the influence of alcohol. This is a serious setback for the Japanese government that has already lost much of the confidence of its citizens to bring the country out of a recession amid the global financial crisis.
Forex traders should be looking forward to Thursday’s Overnight Call Rate from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). No change is expected to take place with Japan’s Interest Rates, but the speech from the bank’s governor could provide insight for the future direction of the Japanese economy.
