JAPAN ECONOMY CONTRACTS 5.1% IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2021

Japan's economy shrank at an annualized rate of 5.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, a government report showed as another wave of coronavirus infections hit the country's major cities, Takehiko Kambayashi reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Japan saw the first contraction in three quarters as 10 prefectures, including Tokyo, had been under a COVID-19 state of emergency from January to March. The reading was worse than the 4.6-per-cent contraction forecast by analysts polled by the Nikkei Business Daily and came after the 11.6-per-cent growth in the last quarter of 2020.

Nine prefectures, including Tokyo, are now under another state of emergency as the regions have been struggling to curb a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, just about two months before the scheduled July 23 start of the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital.

Experts warned of the rapid spread of more transmissible variants of the virus, especially as the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines has been extremely slow in Japan since its launch in mid-February.

Analysts said the slow pace of vaccination could hurt economic recovery. The Cabinet Office also reported on Tuesday that private consumption, a major component of output, fell 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-to-March period, following a 2.2-per-cent increase in the previous quarter.

The office said corporate investment was also down 1.4 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 4.3-percent growth in the previous three-month period. Exports climbed 2.3 percent in the January-to-March period for the third straight quarter of increase, while imports rose 4 percent, the office said.

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