Japan's Growth Rate Revised Down to -4.5%... Impact of COVID-19

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] The Japanese government has downgraded its growth rate forecast for this year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to foreign media including Kyodo News on the 30th, Japan's Cabinet Office projected that the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the 2020 fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021) will record minus (-) 4.5%.

At the time of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy crisis in 2008, the growth rate was -3.4%, and it is expected that the situation will worsen further than that.

Earlier this year, the Japanese government had forecast a growth rate of 1.4%, but it significantly revised the outlook considering the prolonged COVID-19 situation.