PM Suga will struggle to keep up light-touch approach

Survey data suggest that surging coronavirus infections have done little to knock the economic recovery off course thus far. Such resilience amidst an increasingly severe public health situation has been possible because containment measures have so far been light and narrow. However, the lack of a decisive government response is proving increasingly unpopular so PM Suga may be unable to maintain his light-touch approach. We expect tighter restrictions to cause the recovery to stall next quarter.