“Oil prices are now half of their peak levels. This will sizably reduce our expenditures and will most likely bring about 7 trillion yen to the economy,” the minister said.
He said he believed falling oil prices would also help developing economies but would hit oil producing countries.
At the end of 2014, the Economic Revitalization Ministry forecasted an economic effect from the declining oil prices at 4 trillion yen ($33.6 billion). The agency has upgraded its forecast as oil prices continue to decline.
Japan has to import about 90% of natural resources, including oil and gas. The situation worsened following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, after which all nuclear reactors in Japan were brought to a halt.
Japan
09 January 2015
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A global decline in oil prices is expected to bring about 7 trillion yen ($58.3 billion) to the Japanese economy, Minister in Charge of Economic Revitalization Akira Amari said on Friday.
