Tokyo-Sana
Official data showed that the Japanese economy contracted in the first quarter of this year due to reduced demand caused by the outbreak of Omicron and higher commodity prices.
The data, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse, showed that in the period from the beginning of January to the end of last March, the gross domestic product in the archipelago contracted by 0.2 percent, while the markets expected a contraction of 0.4 percent.
The data indicated that the rise in import prices and energy costs and the decline of the yen to its lowest level against the dollar in 20 years led to a contraction of the gross domestic product.
This decline comes after the third largest economy in the world, after the United States and China, rebounded, albeit by a small percentage, in the fourth quarter of last year, but this did not last long, as a new epidemic wave swept the country last January, driven by the fast-spreading mutant Omicron, which confronted it. Authorities impose restrictions throughout the archipelago.
Experts hope that the Japanese economy will return to growth in the second quarter, thanks to the lifting of restrictions imposed to confront the Corona pandemic.
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