Slowing Economy Clouds BoJ Rate Hike Plans

Japan's economy slowed in the April-June quarter, growing only 0.3 percent according to official data released on Monday.

This is down from 0.5 percent in the previous three months and below the 0.5 percent forecast by Bloomberg survey participants.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) had been expected to raise interest rates soon, but this slowdown complicates their efforts to do so as it contends with a weaker yen.

On an annualized basis, the economy expanded 1.1 percent, against expectations of 2.0 percent and growth of 1.9 percent in January-March.