The drop in inflation-adjusted wages by 4.1% was announced by the Japanese government in January, on March 7, reports the NHK television channel.
The decline in real income in Japan has been observed for ten months. However, at the end of January, the drop reached its maximum since May 2014, when the government raised the consumption tax.
The average salary of workers in Japan amounted to approximately 277 thousand yen (154 thousand rubles). When calculated in yen, this figure increased by 0.8% on the year, but the inflation observed during this period completely blocked this growth.
According to representatives of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it is the relatively low growth in wages in recent months that has led to a sharp drop in real income. At the same time, prices continue to rise in the country.
The authorities hope to influence this circumstance after the results of the spring negotiations on salary indexation with the union organizations.
Recall that for a decade, the Japanese government has sought to overcome observed deflation and achieve a stable 2% annual price increase. However, the ultra-liberal monetary policy followed for this did not really give the desired result, since the inflation rate remained low, even in the vicinity of negative values.
After the introduction of sanctions against Russia and the intensification of the world energy crisis, the exchange rate of Japan’s national currency began to decline. This further influenced the increase in energy prices in Japan, which the country mainly imports.
By the end of 2022, the growth rate of consumer prices exceeded 4%, but the country’s financial bloc refused to make any adjustments in its policy, precisely because of the lack of economic growth and wage levels.
As part of his electoral campaign, the current Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, promised to build the so-called “new capitalism” in the country, which would allow economic growth and at the same time a more equal distribution of income among the population.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.