The Bank of Japan meeting is approaching, and the Japanese economy is temporarily avoiding recession

Today, Japan’s economic data was revised upward, turning from quarterly contraction to positive growth, thus avoiding the economy falling into a technical recession, a result that supports the case for the central bank to end its negative interest rate policy this month or next. According to released data, Japan’s GDP grew at an annualized rate of 0.4% in the fourth quarter of last year, reversing the initial contraction of 0.4%. Monday’s data supported the BoJ’s view that the economy continues to recover modestly and that businesses are willing to invest. Most economists expect the BOJ to remove negative interest rate support in March or April, which would be the first rate hike since 2007.