Japanese economy contracted sharply last quarter

Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 17:20 IST
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Tokyo: The Japanese economy shrank in the January-March quarter an an annualised rate of 15.2 percent, the sharpest annualised drop ever recorded in what remains the world's second-largest economy, the Tokyo government announced Wednesday. The pace narrowly exceeded the 14.4 percent annualised rate of contraction in the last three months of 2008. A steep decline in Japan's exports was the leading cause for the first-quarter performance. In absolute terms, the Japanese economy was 4 percent smaller on March 31 from Dec 31.
Source: IANS