The leaders of Japan's four most powerful business groups said Monday that Japan's economy will continue to be sluggish in fiscal 2002, predicting an annual growth rate of between 0.5 percent and a contraction of 1 percent.
"I expect the nation's economy may deteriorate further than last year," said Nobuo Yamaguchi, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, predicting negative growth between 0.5 percent and 1 percent.
The three other leaders were a bit less pessimistic. Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), said the second supplementary budget, which is expected to be approved by the Diet later this month, as well as the recovery of the U.S. economy will help Japan's economy turn around.