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COVID-19: Japanese economy shrinks by record 27.8% amid pandemic

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COVID-19: Japanese economy shrinks by record 27.8% amid pandemic

…As S/Korea’s auto export keeps falling for 4 months***

The Japanese economy contracted at an annualised rate of 27.8 per cent in the second quarter, as the world’s third-largest economy was devastated by the novel coronavirus pandemic, a government report showed on Monday.

The third straight quarterly contraction marked the biggest fall since 1980, when comparable data became available.

The reading was almost in line with the 26.6 per cent contraction forecast by the Japan Centre for Economic Research.

The centre expected the economy to bounce back in the July-to-September period with annualised growth of 13.6 per cent.

Consumer spending, a major component of output, dropped 8.2 per cent quarter on quarter in the April-to-June period for the third straight quarter of decline following a consumption tax increase in October, according to the report released by the Cabinet Office.

Corporate investment fell 1.5 per cent in the April-to-June quarter after a 1.7 per cent rise in the first quarter, the office said.

Exports of goods and services plunged 18.5 per cent and imports were down 0.5 per cent, the office added.

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The Japanese economy shrank at an annualised rate of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter, officially entering a recession following a seven per cent contraction in the last quarter of 2019, when the economy took a big hit after the government raised the country’s consumption tax to 10 per cent on Oct. 1 from eight per cent.

In late March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the International Olympic Committee and local organisers to delay the Tokyo Olympics by one year.

Some experts, however, warned the postponed Games might not be held next year, either, as the world is expected to continue struggling with the novel coronavirus.

The pandemic took a heavy toll on economic activity as the government declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures in early April.

The government urged residents to stay at home and issue business closure requests.

Nine days later, the measure expanded to the entire country.

The nationwide state of emergency had lasted a month until mid-May in most of the country’s 47 prefectures.

On May 25, the measure was lifted in Tokyo and four other prefectures, which were the last remaining regions subject to restrictions.

It was a “severe outcome as economic activity was halted in April and May’’ under the state of emergency, Economic Revitalisation Minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said, referring to the record contraction.

“The government will take all possible measures for economic and fiscal management so that the economy would be put on a recovery track, led by domestic demand,’’ Nishimura said.

However, the minister expressed reservations for a reduction in consumption tax.

Analysts do not expect the economy to make a V-shaped recovery due to sluggish consumer spending and a resurgence of the coronavirus since July.

Japan reported 1,019 new infections on Sunday, exceeding 1,000 new daily cases for the fourth day in a row.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has seen his popularity fall over handling the health crisis.

Abe’s government launched a controversial travel promotion campaign in late July to reboot the tourism industry and local economies hit hard by the pandemic, while the country had continued to see the number of new infections rise.

Tokyo was excluded from the campaign following a rapid rise in case numbers there.

In order to help mitigate the fallout from the pandemic, Japan’s parliament enacted a record 31.9-trillion-yen ($299 billion) supplementary budget in June.

The move came six weeks after the approval of a 25.69-trillion-yen first extra budget, in which the government provided 100,000 yen to all residents in the country.

An employee wearing a mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) waits for customers next to Hyundai Motor’s vehicle at Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, South Korea, April 21, 2020.

In another development, South Korea’s automotive export kept falling for four straight months through July due to an economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed on Monday.

The number of locally-made cars exported in July was 181,362, down 11.7 per cent compared to the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It continued to retreat for four months in a row, but the sliding pace slowed from declines of 44.6 per cent in April, 57.5 per cent in May and 40.1 per cent in June respectively.

The slowing export fall came as car demand increased from North America and Europe, caused by the reopening of businesses in major economies after lockdowns on worry over the COVID-19 pandemic.

In terms of value, the auto export slipped 4.2 per cent over the year to $3.66 billion in July.

It was lower than reductions of 36.3 per cent in April, 54.1 per cent in May and 33.2 per cent in June each.

The number of car sale in the domestic market is 164,539 in July, up 8.9 per cent from a year earlier.

The local car sale kept growing for the fifth consecutive month, owing to the launch of new models and the discount event.

Car production shed 3.8 per cent over the year to 345,711 units in July.

It was down from diminutions of 36.9 per cent in May and 10.7 per cent in June each.

 

 

 

dpa with additional reports from Xinhua

 

Economy

PETROL: ‘Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping’, Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

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PETROL: 'Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping', Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

…Says citizens’ health and vehicle longevity are seriously at risk!

The Dangote Refinery on Sunday warned that Nigerians may soon begin to buy substandard petrol, without much concern for either the citizen’s health or the longevity of their vehicles, except care is taken to prevent low products dumping by those open to connive with certain international traders.

The Group’s image maker and spokesman, Anthony Chiejina gave the warning, saying the group was constrained to raise the alarm, despite its desire to refrain from engaging in any media fights.

“We have lately refrained from engaging in media fights but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations. 

“Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports”, Chiejina stated, stressing that the issue on ground was not about being able to land relatively cheaper petrol on ground, but the quality of such products.

“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.

“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PNS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.

“In good faith, and the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.

“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, intending to use it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production.

“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips to protect their domestic industries.

“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty”, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer further said.

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YULETIDE Decorations: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

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YULETIDE Decorations,: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

The Lagos State Government will divert Traffic, away from a section of Ajose Adeogun Street in Victoria Island, for the mounting of end-of-the-year decoration, for a duration of three weekends starting from Saturday 19th October 2024.

The aforementioned exercise, according to Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi,  will be carried out in three phases with each phase focusing on different sections of the street. 

To this end, the following alternative routes have been mapped out for motorists during the cause of the mounting; 

 During the First Phase which will cover Jubril Martins to Chicken Republic – (Saturday, 19th and Sunday, 20th October 2024)

Traffic inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to the other half (existing section) of Ajose Adeogun Street by VCP Hotel to form contra-flow traffic and exit at Eko-Hotel Roundabout to continue journeys.

Alternatively, Traffic inward to Eko-Hotel Roundabout from VCP Hotel will be diverted through Jubril Martins into Muri Okunola to link Patience Coker and access Ajose Adeogun Street to connect destinations.

During the Second Phase which will cover Molade Okoya Thomas to Mounis Bashorun section – (Saturday, 26th and Sunday, 27th October 2024). 

Traffic inward Ajose Adeogun Street from Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to a right turn into Molade Okoya Thomas to link Younis Bashorun to access Ajose Adeogun Street to continue journeys. 

During the Third phase of the project spanning 10 meters inward Ajose Adeogun (Saturday, 2nd November, 2024).

Motorists from Adetokunbo Ademola Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Ajose Adeogun Street to connect their destinations, while Motorists inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout on Ajose Adeogun Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Eko-Hotel Roundabout.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi while imploring Motorists to note the ease of movement plan assured that the State’s Traffic Management Authority will be on ground to manage vehicular activities along the corridor to minimise inconveniences.

The Commissioner therefore advised Motorists to be patient, as the Partial closure is part of the traffic management plans for the commencement of End of Year Decoration of Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, by Zenith Bank PLC.

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NLC Kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Job Loss

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NLC kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Jobs Lost

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against the current petrol price hike, stressing that the latest increase in the pump price of petrol will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip.

The Congress added that the increase would lead to more job loss with multidimensional negative effects, and therefore, demanded its immediate reversal.

NLC’s position is contained in a statement signed by its President, Mr Joe Ajaero on Wednesday in Abuja, titled, “What next after increase in pump price?”.

The labour leader said the previous increases had not produced any good results, rather, people only got poorer.

He said the Congress was dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.

“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.

“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.

“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had raised the pump price of petrol by 14.8 per cent to N1,030 per litre from N897 across its retail outlets in the FCT.

Earlier in September, the NNPCL had increased the price of the product from N615 to N897.

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