WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday its 2023 economic growth forecast for Japan remained unchanged at 1.9% even after the release of weak October-December gross domestic product data.

“Despite the weak outturn for the second half of 2023 driven by weak domestic consumption and investment, growth in 2023 for the year as a whole remains robust thanks to strong performance of net exports,” IMF Japan mission chief Ranil Salgado told Reuters in response to a request for comment on the impact of the weak GDP data.

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Japan unexpectedly slipped into a recession at the end of last year, data showed on Thursday, losing its title as the world’s third-biggest economy to Germany and raising doubts about when the central bank would begin to exit its decade-long ultra-loose monetary policy.