Japan's personal cash holdings exceeded 100 trillion yen for the first time!

According to the statistics on fund circulation from October to December 2020 released by the Bank of Japan on the 17th , as of the end of December last year , the cash held by individuals (households) exceeded 100 trillion yen for the first time. Compared with the same period last year, it increased by 5.2 % to 101 trillion yen, the highest in history.

The tendency to increase personal savings is growing, especially among the elderly . Among them , household cash and savings increased by 4.8% to 105.6 trillion yen. Deposits also increased by 4.8% to 95.5 trillion yen.

Even with the Bank of Japan's massive monetary easing, deposits are earning almost no interest, but deposit balances are still growing . The Japanese government paid everyone a 100,000 yen subsidy last year , and part of it was used for savings.

The balance of financial assets of the household sector, including stocks, increased by 2.9% to 19.48 trillion yen, setting a new record high.

But as Japanese consumers continue to increase their cash reserves and bank deposits, their wallets will naturally remain "contracted."

Japanese people have reduced their spending on food and travel during Japan's second state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic .

The index fell 16.4% in the second half of February compared with the same period last year, based on searches by credit card company JCB , research firm Nowcast and an assessment of consumer transactions in the last two weeks of February .

Among them, vacation accommodation expenses fell by 46.7%, travel expenses fell by 40.1%, food expenses fell by 39.1%, and transportation expenses fell by 36%. However, it is interesting that the decline in the second half of February was much slower than the decline in the first half of the month.

The biggest obstacle to making consumption and investment decisions is uncertainty about the future. All of this stems from the Japanese people's distrust of the current epidemic situation in Japan and the Japanese government.

Although Japan's infection spread is much milder than in Europe and the United States, its economic growth rate is unsatisfactory . It ranked second only to Italy in 2021, and its growth rate in 2022 is expected to be the lowest among the G7 countries .

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