In the more than six and a half decades since independence, the nation has faced many adversities, external aggression and famines in the early years, some drought years, the oil crisis of the 70s, the BoP Crisis in the early 90s followed by the South-east Asian crisis in the late 90s, the global financial crisis that began with the US sub-prime crisis and currently, the eurozone crisis.
According to the Bank’s estimates, the potential growth rate has been in the range of 0.5-1.0 percent recently. Although the rate has risen compared to around 2010, it can be said that Japan’s growth potential has been sluggish. This is also an indication of the various challenges that Japan faces in achieving a rise in productivity.