Global Economic Turmoil: Japan and UK Slip into Recession, US Economy Resilient

Japan's economy has slipped into a technical recession, prompting the Bank of Japan to grapple with the challenge of supporting the yen while facing sluggish growth. The central bank is expected to exit its negative interest rate regime this spring, but its ability to alleviate depreciation pressure on the yen is limited by high inflation that has crimped domestic demand. Former BOJ policy board member Sayuri Shirai believes the bank is likely to remove negative interest rates this spring due to concerns about side effects, despite the difficulty of achieving stable inflation and the impact on yen depreciation. The prolonged high inflation rates have hit domestic consumption, contributing to the second consecutive contraction in Japan's GDP in the fourth quarter.