Senior BOJ official: Japan's Q4 2019 GDP may have contracted sharply

A Bank of Japan senior official

• labour shortage not becoming strong constraint on Japan's economic growth
• public, private sectors must make efforts to boost productivity so economy can achieve strong, sustainable growth
• Japan's Q4 2019 GDP may have contracted sharply due to overseas slowdown, sales tax hike impact and hit from natural disasters
• Japan's economy likely to sustain moderate expansion as a trend on robust capex, govt spending
• Must be vigilant against various risks such as chance coronavirus outbreak could affect inbound tourism, production
• BOJ hopes to maintain powerful monetary easing to support economy

Headlines via Reuters