Japan, Global Economy | featured news

A contraction in the first quarter at an annual rate of 3.7 percent was worse than economists had expected.

Japan’s sovereign-rating outlook was cut to “negative” by Standard & Poor’s as the nation’s reconstruction needs following last month’s earthquake will likely add to what’s already the world’s biggest debt load.

Concerns over the deteriorating condition of Japan's stricken nuclear reactors, and the effect on global economies, sparked the Dow's biggest selloff since August and left the S&P 500 in the red for 2011.

Japan's devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world's third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast.

The United States will lead the rich world's economic recovery over the next two years while Japan and major European economies flounder by comparison, according to Reuters polls of more than 200 economists.

Japan’s central bank has cut its key interest rate to a range of zero to 0.1 percent, effectively introducing a zero interest rate policy.