B. Japan's Economy Next, I would like to turn to Japan's economy. Starting with recent developments, the real GDP growth rate for the October-December quarter of 2018 recovered to positive territory after a decline in the previous quarter. This was partly due to the rebound from the decrease in domestic demand caused mainly by natural disasters in the July-September quarter.
However, the recovery from negative growth is losing momentum amid heightening uncertainties regarding overseas economies. Chart 3 shows the real GDP growth rate and the breakdown by component. While private consumption and private business fixed investment picked up, the contribution of external demand further decreased within negative territory compared with that for the July-September quarter, partly due to an increase in imports.