Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute said: "The vaccine issue is the most important thing for the (economic) recovery," he said, adding that the vaccination rate would need to come to about 50% to boost the country's economic recovery prospects. (Pic shows a staff member, right, guides local residents to receive the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Yokohama, near Tokyo Sunday, June 6, 2021. - AP)
TOKYO: Japan's economy shrank at a slower-than-initially reported pace in the first quarter, on smaller cuts to plant and equipment spending, but the coronavirus pandemic still dealt a huge blow to overall demand.
The slower contraction provides a relief for policymakers hoping Japan's economic recovery will not lag those of other major economies, which have rolled out COVID-19 vaccines much quicker to bring the health crisis to an end.
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