Abenomics in jeopardy as consumer sentiment slumps

THE threat of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth-boosting economic policies, known as Abenomics, foundering in the face of a scheduled national consumption tax hike loomed larger yesterday, with a Bank of Japan (BOJ) survey revealing deteriorating consumer sentiment in recent months.

Compounding this, a BOJ policy board member suggested in a speech that the Japanese central bank may have to delay its plan to achieve 2 per cent annual inflation, given that the combination of the threat of inflation and a raised sales tax could send the economy off course.

The results of the latest quarterly BOJ survey of consumer sentiment published yesterday indicated that sentiment among households had gone south for a second consecutive month last month and for the final quarter of 2013 as a whole.