The Japanese government on Friday denied a foreign newspaper report that hinted the Economic Planning Agency manipulated gross domestic product data for the October-December quarter for political reasons.
EPA chief Taichi Sakaiya downplayed the report and said the agency's announcement Thursday that it will likely revise downward the data was merely the result of a statistical problem and not because of political pressure.
"It was just a matter of data processing. There was no political motivation," Sakaiya said.