Japan confirms worst economic performance in 35 years
Friday, 13 March 2009
TOKYO, Mar 12 (AFP): Japan Thursday confirmed its worst economic performance in nearly 35 years in the fourth quarter of 2008 and China unveiled more grim statistics.
Australian unemployment also hit a four-year high and New Zealand slashed its key interest rate to a record low as the effects of the global economic crisis spread across the region.
The bad news came as US President Barack Obama urged governments to coordinate their efforts to battle the worldwide downturn, ahead of a meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 nations in Britain on Saturday.
Japan, the world's second largest economy, shrank 3.2 per cent in the three months to December -- 12.1 per cent an annualised basis -- as demand dived for its cars, high-tech goods and other exports.
The revised figure was slightly better than the initial estimate of a 12.7 per cent annualised drop, but it was still the worst quarter since early 1974.
"Exports fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter," said David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore.
In 2009 the economy is likely to shrink 5.7 per cent, "which would be the worst year since the Second World War," said Cohen.
China meanwhile said its industrial output had slowed dramatically, the latest in a series of bleak data which indicate the world's third largest country is being hard hit by the slowdown.
The export-dependent Asian giant said factory production grew 3.8 per cent year-on-year in January and February, compared with 15.4 per cent growth for the same period in 2008.
China, whose lightning growth in recent years has hinged on strong foreign demand for its products, has already announced a 25 per cent drop in exports this week and said consumer prices fell for the first time since 2002.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States and China should work together at the G20 meeting to ensure that it leads to 'concrete action steps' aimed at stabilising the world economy.
Australian unemployment also hit a four-year high and New Zealand slashed its key interest rate to a record low as the effects of the global economic crisis spread across the region.
The bad news came as US President Barack Obama urged governments to coordinate their efforts to battle the worldwide downturn, ahead of a meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 nations in Britain on Saturday.
Japan, the world's second largest economy, shrank 3.2 per cent in the three months to December -- 12.1 per cent an annualised basis -- as demand dived for its cars, high-tech goods and other exports.
The revised figure was slightly better than the initial estimate of a 12.7 per cent annualised drop, but it was still the worst quarter since early 1974.
"Exports fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter," said David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore.
In 2009 the economy is likely to shrink 5.7 per cent, "which would be the worst year since the Second World War," said Cohen.
China meanwhile said its industrial output had slowed dramatically, the latest in a series of bleak data which indicate the world's third largest country is being hard hit by the slowdown.
The export-dependent Asian giant said factory production grew 3.8 per cent year-on-year in January and February, compared with 15.4 per cent growth for the same period in 2008.
China, whose lightning growth in recent years has hinged on strong foreign demand for its products, has already announced a 25 per cent drop in exports this week and said consumer prices fell for the first time since 2002.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States and China should work together at the G20 meeting to ensure that it leads to 'concrete action steps' aimed at stabilising the world economy.