Japan’s economic recovery failed to regain momentum as expected in the last three months of 2013, government data showed on Monday, with spending by households and businesses offset by deteriorating terms of trade.
Gross domestic product increased by 0.3 per cent in the October-December quarter, or 1.0 per cent in annualised terms, according to a preliminary estimate by the Cabinet Office. That matched the pace of growth in the period between July and September but fell well short of forecasts by analysts, who had been looking for growth of around 0.7 per cent.
Weak export growth was the main culprit. The small increase in the value of exports, at 0.4 per cent, was not nearly enough to balance a 3.5 per cent surge in imports. Japan’s once vaunted trade surpluses have been turned to persistent deficits by a combination of a weak yen and sharply higher energy imports amid the post-Fukushima shutdown of the country’s nuclear industry.
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