BoJ policy path gets complicated

Consumption weakness: An angler near the Yokohama Port at the promenade of Daikoku pier. Japan’s economic recovery from the pandemic lost momentum during the summer, with the outlook also shaky on slowing overseas economies. — AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s economy shrank at the sharpest pace since the height of the pandemic, an outcome that complicates the policy path for the Bank of Japan (BoJ) amid soaring speculation it is edging closer to scrapping the world’s last negative rate regime.

Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at an annualised pace of 2.9% in the three months through September from the previous quarter as households reined in spending, revised figures from the Cabinet Office showed yesterday.