The government on Thursday maintained its assessment of the Japanese economy in May, saying that it is "worsening rapidly" as the new coronavirus pandemic curbs economic activities.
"The Japanese economy is worsening rapidly in an extremely severe situation due to the novel coronavirus," the Cabinet Office said in a monthly report, leaving unchanged an expression that constitutes its most pessimistic assessment of the overall situation since May 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Out of 11 main components, the May report downgraded the assessments of three, including exports.