BUSINESS sentiment suggests Japan's economy is falling into the second phase of a ''double dip'' downturn due to the effects of a cold, wet summer and the strong yen, Japan's Economic Planning Agency (EPA) says in its latest report.
Last month's report said the economy's downward momentum had abated and the economy was ''treading water''.
Yesterday's report said that due to the cold weather and the yen's surge, the economy could be on its way down again.
''It is not as though the economy is getting worse and worse,'' an EPA official said.
''Rather, it is that the economy has improved a little and now is declining again.'' The report comes a month after the Government announced a 6.2 trillion yen (about HK$446.52 billion) economic package aimed at jump-starting Japan's recession-plagued economy.
During the first three months of 1993, Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) in real terms rose 0.6 per cent. But during the second quarter, real GDP fell 0.4 per cent, the report said.