Japan's economy shrank for the first time in a year and at a faster pace than expected, data for the March quarter showed on Friday, underscoring the fragile nature of its recovery now under threat from U.

TOKYO] The Bank of Japan will continue to raise interest rates if the economy rebounds from an expected hit from higher US tariffs, the central bank’s deputy governor Shinichi Uchida said, while warning of a highly uncertain outlook.

Japan’s economy was shrinking even before the bulk of US President Donald Trump’s tariff measures took force, leaving the economy at risk of sliding into recession as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heads into an election and the central bank weighs policy.