Economy skids, clouding BoJ’s rate hike targets

Fragile recovery: People in an underground subway concourse in Tokyo. Japan’s economy suffered a 2% contraction in the first quarter, official data show. — AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s economy fell faster than expected in the first quarter as the weak yen continues 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 yesterday showed Japan’s economy shrank 2% annualised in January-March from the prior quarter, faster than the 1.5% drop seen in a Reuters poll of economists.