(Corrects paragraph 5 to say bankruptcies in March are up 40%,
not 36%, from the previous month)
TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - Japan raised its official
assessment of imports for first time in nine months, the
government's monthly economic report showed on Tuesday, as the
yen's double-digit depreciation from a year earlier puffed up
the value of imported goods.
While the report maintained the overview of the economy that
it was on a moderate recovery, it recognised rising bankruptcies
and maintained a warning against global financial volatility it
added last month in response to Western bank collapses.
The report, crafted by the Cabinet Office, said Japan's
imports are generally staying flat, modifying a previous
expression that they were weak, after shipments from the United
States and Asia rebounded from a February dip.
Trade data out last week showed the hefty cost of coal and
oil products, coupled with the yen's 16.5% slump from a year
before, increased imports by 7.3% in March, helping bring
Japan's trade deficit for fiscal 2022 to a record high.
The government also said bankruptcies are growing in Japan,
having previously said they were staying at low levels. Data by
credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research showed 809
bankruptcies filed in March in Japan, up 40% from the previous
month to hit the highest level since June 2015.
A Cabinet Office official did not specify causes for the
rise in bankruptcies. Analysts have said the end of the
government's COVID-19 relief programme would prompt an increase
in small businesses' insolvency.
Elsewhere in the report, the government maintained a
reference to the need to monitor the impact of overseas
financial and capital market fluctuations.
While worries after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
appeared to have settled, as seen in metrics such as growing
U.S. bank lending, the government must stay vigilant against
financial market risks, the official told a news conference.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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