JAPAN

摘要

According to data for the last two months of 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "three arrows" plan seems to be working in terms of stimulating the economy. Industrial production, for instance, continued to rise in November, by 0.1% (m-o-m) following a 1.0% (m-o-m) expansion in the previous month, although this figure was weaker-than-ex-pected. December's manufacturing PMI was also promising, expanding at its fastest pace in more than 7 years to 55.2, up from 55.1 in November. Indeed, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey also reflects these positive fundamentals with sentiment improving to +16 in the December quarter, up four points from September.