Japan suffers worst economic slump in five yearsTyphoon Hagibis killed more than 100 people and caused widespread flooding in October. TOKYO: Japan has suffered its worst quarterly GDP contraction in more than five years, with a tax hike and a deadly typhoon taking a toll on the world's third-largest economy. Expenditure on factories and equipment decreased 3.7 percent despite investment getting a boost from cashless-payment systems that allow consumers to alleviate the consumption tax hike. Japan has only a "bleak" prospect of returning to growth in the first quarter of this year, said Minami. Domestic consumption should recover as the impact of the higher consumption tax abates," he said.

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2020 02:15 UTC