Japan retail sales down more than expected; govt to review data reliability

Tokyo

NEWS on Thursday that retail sales in Japan fell by a larger than expected margin in August compared with the previous month appeared to signal further problems for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics policies. But it coincided with reports that the government is reviewing the reliability of its own economic data.

The news came also a day after the main opposition Democratic Party's newly elected leader - who is known by the single name of Renho - launched a strong attack in the Japanese parliament on Abenomics in which she accused the Abe administration of whitewashng its failure to boost Japan's economy.