Ditching Olympics can further damage Japan's recession hit economy

Not holding the games on top of an extended emergency could knock back growth this year by as much as 1.7 percentage point, says economist.

Scrapping the Tokyo Olympics would inflict further damage on a Japanese economy already teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession, according to economists.

While Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insists the games will go ahead, he looks set to extend a virus emergency until the middle of June, barely a month before the Olympics are due to start. Analysts factoring in a longer emergency now see a larger chance of Japan suffering a second straight quarterly contraction.

 

A last-minute ditching of the games on top of an extended