Japan's key economic index for forecasting economic activity six to nine months ahead plunged below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in April for the first time in 14 months, the Economic Planning Agency said Monday.
The diffusion index of leading economic indicators stood at a preliminary 28.6 percent for April, the EPA said.
However, Yoshihiko Senoo, head of the agency's Business Statistics Research Division, said the decline was a result of several "irregular factors" and that the substantial level of the leading index was higher than 28.6 percent.