May 16, 2024 3:37 PM

Japan’s economy skids, clouding BOJ’s rate hike plans

Japan's economy fell faster than expected in the first quarter as the weak yen continued to batter consumers, throwing a fresh challenge to the central bank's push to get interest rates further away from near zero. Preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) data from the Cabinet Office on Thursday showed Japan's economy shrank 2.0% annualised in January-March from the prior quarter, faster than the 1.5% drop seen in a Reuters poll of economists. Downwardly revised data showed GDP barely grew in ...