TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s exports fell in September at the slowest pace in seven months as U.S.-bound vehicle shipments rose from lows brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating easing pressure on the world’s third-largest economy.
Exports fell 4.9% in September compared with the same month a year earlier, more than the 2.4% economists forecast in a Reuters poll. Still, the pace followed six months of double-digit decline, including a 14.8% drop in August.
Fewer exports of iron to Taiwan and ships to Panama left September marking the 22nd consecutive month of export decline, the longest run since the 23-month stretch through July 1987.
To help the economy through the health crisis, the government should compile a third extra budget for the current fiscal year, economists told Reuters last week. The two earlier budgets helped fund $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus, such as cash payments to households and small business loans.
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