Japan Economy Unexpectedly Shrinks After Yen Slide

 

Japan's economy has unexpectedly shrunk for the first time in a year as the rising cost of living hit consumer spending growth.

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an annualised 1.2% in the three months to the end of September.

People reined in spending amid fears of a global slowdown and as the weak yen made imports more expensive.

However, economists expect the world's third biggest economy to avoid recession as it bounces back this year.

"We are expecting a flip back into expansion" by the end of 2022, Darren Tay, Japan economist at Capital Economics said in a note to investors.

The Japanese economy "will benefit from a rebound in inbound tourism and a stronger trade balance. But virus risks and rising inflation will limit the extent of the recovery," he added.

Along with global economy slowing and inflation rising around the world, Japan has struggled as its currency fell in value against the US dollar this year.

Last month the yen hit fresh 32-year lows against the dollar, which has made the cost of imported goods - from oil to food - more expensive for Japan's households and businesses.

The yen's slide in recent months has been driven by the difference between interest rates in Japan and the US.

Since March, the US Federal Reserve has aggressively raised its main interest rate as it tries to tackle the rising cost of living.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan has kept its key rate below zero.

Higher interest rates tend to make a currency more attractive to investors.

As a result there is less demand for currencies from countries with lower rates and those currencies fall in value.

However, EY's Nobuko Kobayashi highlighted that the currency's slide is good news for Japanese companies that sell their goods abroad.

"For the exporters, a weaker yen is definitely positive as it pushes down the cost. For those who produce and locally serve overseas markets, the profit converted into yen is inflated because of cheaper yen. Thus, automotive and electronics sectors benefit from weaker yen," she said.

Ms Kobayashi added that the weak yen may also be good for Japan's economy as it could help to attract investment from overseas.

- BBC

PINOCCHIO -NETFLIX FILM- PINNACLE : MEXICAN DIRECTOR del TORO

 

Puppets in ' Pinocchio.' Guillermo del Toro explores fascism, figurines in the animated version of this great classic.

''In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend,'' director del Toro said in an earlier statement to the Reuters.

''He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I've wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember.''

When Guillermo del Toro first set out to make a dark animated version of Pinocchio 15 years ago, he opted to set his tale puppets and their string-pulling masters in 1930s fascist Italy. 

The characters of elderly woodcarver Geppetto and his exuberant living puppet Pinocchio were first created in 1883 novel and later popularised by Disney, reported AFP.

But in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, out on Netflix next month, they find themselves living in Benito Mussolini inter-war world of military salutes, strict conformity and violent machismo. ''I wanted [to set the film in] a moment in which behaving like a puppet was a good thing,'' del Toro told AFP on the red carpet of this weekend's AFI Fest in Hollywood.

''I wanted Pinocchio to be disobedient,'' he added. ''I wanted Pinocchio, who was the only puppet, to act like a puppet. I thought, thematically, that was perfect.''

While the theme of fascism could appear timely in light of recent global politics, del Toro said the movie was just as relevant when he conceived the project years ago, Indeed del Toro has previously used distinctive Gothic fairy tales to tackle the spectre of fascism with films such as Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone, both set in Franco-era Spain.

''It is something that concerns me because it's something that humanity seems to come back to,'' he said. ''I've always seen it. I don't know if it's the colour of my glasses, but I always see it.''

''Fascism is always alive in the background - or in the foreground,'' he said.

The Oscar-winning Mexican director pitched his version of Pinocchio to Hollywood studios and producers for years before streaming giant Netflix finally bought the rights in 2018.

''I've been fighting to make it for half my career,'' said del Toro. The movie required over 1,000 days of filming.

It uses the painstaking method of stop-motion animation, in which puppets are carefully manipulated frame-by-frame to create the illusion of movement. For del Toro, using computer-generated imagery -like Disney's own recent live-action remake of its previous, seminal 1940 animation - was never an option.

''It was very pertinent for me to make a story about a puppet with puppets, and the puppets believe they are not puppets,'' he stated. ''It is a very beautiful sort of kaleidoscope, telescoping thing.''

While del Toro has long been fascinated by animation, he won his Oscars for best director and best picture with 2017's live-action The Shape of Water, and Pinocchio marks his first animated feature film.

''In North America, the animation is seen as a genre for kids a little more,'' said del Toro. ''One of the things that I think everybody is trying to change, not just us, is to say, 'Animation is a film, the animation is acting, the animation is art.' ''

Stop-motion animation can ''touch upon profoundly moving, profoundly spiritual things,'' but it is ''a practice that is constantly on the verge of extinction,'' he said. '' It's only kept alive by crazy fanatics ........ we keep it alive!''

The World Students Society thanks News Desk, The Express Tribune.

ME GREEN -$2.5 BILLION- MAKEOVER : SAUDI ARABIA

 

Sharm EL Sheikh : Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Monday the Kingdom would contribute $2.5 billion to a green initiative in the Middle East over the next 10 years, and host its headquarters.

The Middle East Green Initiative was launched by the crown prince last year as part of efforts to reduce regional carbon emissions.

Saudi Arabia had said last year it aimed to contribute 15% of the $10.4 billion required for the fund's clean energy projects.

The crown prince, known as MbS, also said the Kingdom's Public Investment Fund, would aim for net zero emissions by 2050.

The Middle East Green Initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions from regional hydrocarbon production by more than 60%. It also plans to plant 50 billion trees across the Middle East and restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land.

The initiative will help reduce global carbon levels by 2.5%. Saudi Arabia plans to rely on renewables for 50% of its electricity generation by 2030. [Reuters]