Just last week, government estimates indicated the world's No.3 economy would miss its nominal GDP goal of 600 trillion yen ($5.7 trillion) in fiscal 2020, with Tokyo now expecting nominal GDP of 551 trillion yen instead, Reuters reported. The downgrade comes despite aggressive massive monetary and fiscal stimulus from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic program, dubbed "Abenomics," which had aimed to kick start the long-moribund economy out of a decades-long deflationary slump.
Last week, the government announced a stimulus package worth $278 billion in hopes of increasing GDP growth by 1.3 percent, Reuters said.
But some banks were skeptical on whether the package would be effective.