Live news: Hong Kong to repurpose hotels and housing estates for Covid-19 quarantine
A relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions prompted a boost in consumer spending and a rebound in Japan’s economy during the last three months of 2021, though the bounce was less strong than in the US.
Japan’s gross domestic product rose by an annualised 5.4 per cent during the October to December period, according to figures released by the cabinet office on Tuesday. A consensus of analysts polled by Reuters had expected 5.8 per cent.
But analysts warned that the rebound was likely to have lost steam after December, when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus began to take hold, the yen softened and rising oil prices began to weigh on a Japanese economy dependent on energy and food imports.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Japanese economy posted a rebound of 1.3 per cent after a fall of 0.7 per cent in the July to September period.
The government lifted a state of emergency at the end of September, triggering a return to workplaces…
