Japan’s Gloomy GDP Report May Create Challenges for Policymakers
Customers at a store in Kawasaki, Japan. The yen’s weakness may add to shoppers’ woes via higher import costs for energy and food.
Photographer: Akio Kon/BloombergJapan’s economy is likely to have contracted in the first three months of 2024 due in part to disruptions at car makers, clouding the growth outlook as the central bank attempts to set the right pace for policy normalization.
A government report on Thursday is forecast to show that gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 1.2% in the three months through March, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The preliminary data are expected to show spending by consumers and companies fell, while net exports exerted a drag on growth for the first time in a year.