Japan's economy is finally set to return to its pre-pandemic size, a result that’s nonetheless unlikely to sway Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda from his commitment to policy easing.
Gross domestic product probably expanded at an annualized 2.7% in the three months through June, economists predicted ahead of data on Monday. The expected moderate recovery from an omicron variant-impacted first quarter will bring GDP back to its level at the end of 2019.
Yet Japan’s milestone will trail well behind that of the United States, which achieved it a year ago, and much of Europe, which regained it at the end of 2021.