FINANCIAL TIMES: A buying spree by Japanese consumers ahead of a sales-tax increase in April lifted economic growth even higher than expected in the first quarter, to an annualised rate of 5.9 per cent – good news that was tempered by worries over the severity of the post-tax-hike hangover.
Economists’ most recent consensus forecasts point to a contraction in gross domestic product of 3.3 per cent in the current quarter, followed by a return to 2 per cent growth in the three months from July.
Fast growth had been widely forecast as consumers timed purchases of everything from cigarettes to televisions to new homes to beat the 3 percentage point rise, the first increase in the tax since 1997. Household spending in March expanded by the biggest margin in 39 years, according to one official measure… (more)
