Japan's below-par Q4 growth raises fears of a renewed slowdown

JAPAN's economic growth came in well below expectations in the final quarter of last year, going by data released yesterday.

This has reinforced fears of a renewed slowdown in the world's third-largest economy, even as other leading economies show signs of a pick-up in activity.

The rate of real or inflation-adjusted growth in the final quarter of 2013 was just 0.3 per cent; the market had expected it to be 0.7 per cent.