East Asia Econ

East Asia Today

Some strong numbers in Japan today, both the Economy Watchers survey – which provides a good guide to the direction of the cycle – and the current account surplus, which in September was the highest in at least 25 years. Also today, Korean export data for the first ten days of November.

Paul Cavey

Nov 11, 2025 • 2 min read

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Japan – EW survey lifts strongly

The sharp recovery in sentiment in the EW survey continued in October. The improvement is broad-based, affecting both corporates and households. That shows a lessening of the tariff and inflation shocks of 1H25, and should be reflected in the BOJ becoming more optimistic about the outlook.

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East Asia Today

In addition to yesterday's inflation data from China (stronger at the margin), today's update includes the summary of opinions from the BOJ's October meeting, September consumption data for Japan, and September wages for Taiwan.

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Japan – Board thinks the time for another hike is getting closer

The summary of the October BOJ meeting show a stronger consensus that the time is approaching for another rate hike. That is partly because concern about tariffs is fading. It is less about domestic demand: data today show consumption trending up, but still only very slowly.