聯(lián)合國(guó)新規(guī)“提振”日本經(jīng)濟(jì)

Japan’s economy grew 6.3 per cent overnight after it became the latest country to apply new UN standards for compiling national accounts.

日本經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)模一夜之間增長(zhǎng)6.3%，原因是該國(guó)采用了聯(lián)合國(guó)(UN)新版標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來編制國(guó)民賬戶。

The change, which takes the measured size of Japan’s economy from ¥499tn to ¥531tn ($4.6tn) for 2015, is a political boon for Shinzo Abe, prime minister, who has vowed to lift output to ¥600tn by 2020. Although it makes no difference to the true size of the economy, the new accounting delivers a third of his political promise.

這一改變使日本衡量得出的2015年經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)模從499萬億日元上升至531萬億日元(合4.6萬億美元)。這對(duì)日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)而言是一個(gè)政治提振，他曾誓言到2020年將日本的經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)出提高到600萬億日元。盡管這一改變對(duì)日本經(jīng)濟(jì)的真實(shí)規(guī)模沒有影響，但新的統(tǒng)計(jì)方法幫他一舉兌現(xiàn)了三分之一的政治承諾。

Japan’s new figures, which also suggest more robust underlying growth since Mr Abe came to power in 2012, highlight the impact of the UN accounting standards around the world. They will lower Japan’s high ratio of debt to gross domestic product.

日本的新數(shù)據(jù)也表明，自安倍2012年上臺(tái)以來，根本層面的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)更為強(qiáng)勁，這凸顯出聯(lián)合國(guó)會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則在世界各地的影響。新會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則降低了日本很高的債務(wù)與國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值(GDP)之比。

Under the rules, spending on research and development, patents and copyrights is treated as investment, and so is added to GDP for the first time.

按照新規(guī)則，對(duì)研發(fā)、專利和版權(quán)的支出被視為投資，因而首次被計(jì)入GDP。

Because of Japan’s high R&D spending, the change has a big impact. Similar changes in the US raised GDP only 3.2 per cent.

由于日本的研發(fā)支出較高，這一改變產(chǎn)生了很大影響。在美國(guó)，類似的改變只將GDP抬高了3.2%。

Toru Suehiro, senior market economist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, said: “The impact on [overall] growth appears to be limited, but capitalisation of R&D is a relatively large change that has boosted growth in private non-residential investment.”

瑞穗證券(Mizuho Securities)高級(jí)市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家末廣徹(Toru Suehiro)表示：“對(duì)(整體)增長(zhǎng)的影響似乎有限，但研發(fā)的資本化是一個(gè)相對(duì)較大的改變，提振了私人部門非住宅投資的增長(zhǎng)。”

However, the revised figures also suggest that economic growth has been significantly stronger since Mr Abe’s rise to power than previously thought, even though for the latest quarter, from July to September, the figure was revised down from an annualised 2.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent, suggesting a reduction in momentum.

然而，經(jīng)修訂的數(shù)據(jù)還表明，自安倍上臺(tái)以來，日本的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)要比此前認(rèn)為的強(qiáng)勁得多。盡管在從7月到9月的最近一個(gè)季度，日本經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)從2.2%的年化增長(zhǎng)率下修至1.3%，似乎表明增長(zhǎng)勢(shì)頭減弱了。