国际英语新闻：地震降低消费，导致日本陷入经济衰退

Damaged supply chains
 
The second biggest component of the world's third largest economy is trade.

Exports made up 13.5% and imports 12.7% of GDP in 2009.

The massive quake and tsunami devastated exports, while the costs of imports rose due to high commodity prices.

Japan's trade surplus fell by 34.3% in March compared with the same month a year ago.

"One issue on the export side is the ongoing struggle to restore damaged production lines and supply chains," said Ms Fink of Jefferies.

"On the import side, the increase in demand for fossil fuels, to offset the drop in supply of nuclear energy, is unlikely to fade anytime soon," she added.

Reconstruction demand
 
Once rebuilding gathers momentum, however, it should have a positive impact on the economy.

But that is only likely to happen towards the end of this year.

"I do not expect positive growth in the second quarter," said Ms Fink.

The country's central bank begins its two-day meeting on Thursday to discuss its monetary policy.

"Japan's economic strength is gradually declining," Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday.

Analysts say this signals that the central bank will stick to its ultra-loose monetary policy.

"The BOJ is likely to fine tune its existing policies," said Ms Fink.

The bank has pumped billions of dollar into the financial system to stabilise the economy since the massive earthquake.

The BOJ is also expected to keep the rates unchanged at the lowest level in a range of 0.0% to 0.1%, to help stimulate the economy.