TOKYO- Japan’s economy likely shrank in the first quarter as the hit to consumption from coronavirus curbs offset the boost from robust global demand, a Reuters poll showed, highlighting the country’s slow recovery from a pandemicinduced slump.
An extension of state of emergency restrictions and slow vaccine rollouts are expected to keep growth feeble in April-June, analysts say, reinforcing views that Japan will lag other major economies in emerging from the doldrums.
“Instead of staging a V-shaped recovery, Japan’s economy may contract again in April-June,” Daiwa Institute of Research said in a research note. “Looking ahead, the key would be whether Japan can end state of emergency curbs in May.”
The world’s third-largest economy is expected to have contracted by an annualized 4.6 percent in January-March, according to a Reuters poll, following an 11.7 percent jump in the previous quarter.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, real gross domestic product (GDP) likely fell 1.2 percent in January- March, the poll showed.
The government will release preliminary January-March GDP data on May 18.
