Japan downgrades GDP forecasts, expects economy to shrink by 4.5% this fiscal year

Adding that the economy could contract by about 5% if there is a second virus outbreak seen across the globe

The downgrade is to be expected given that their previous forecast was back in January, before all the virus shenanigans captured the imagination of the world.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2021/22, they expect the economy to rebound with 3.4% growth. But for the current fiscal year, they expect inflation to fall by 0.3% - representing a far cry from the BOJ's elusive 2% inflation target.