Economics
Japan Faces 'Near-Zero' Growth in Second Quarter, Citigroup Says
This article is for subscribers only.
After a surprising spurt to start the year, Japan’s economic growth will slump to "near zero" in the second quarter and remain below trend for some time, according to economists at Citigroup Inc.
The first-quarter result of 2.1% annualized growth, announced Monday, was inflated by technical factors -- a sharp fall in imports and rising inventories -- that are likely to reverse in the current period, weighing on GDP, Citigroup’s Kiichi Murashima and Katsuhiko Aiba wrote in a research note dated Thursday.