Japan’s economy can handle a change of plan for Olympics: IMF

Postponing or cancelling games set for July would have ‘limited impact’ on Japan’s growth, says IMF official.

Cancelling or postponing the Tokyo Olympics Games probably will not hurt Japan’s economy much but may require the government to offer tailored support for hard-hit small firms, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said. While the government plans to proceed as scheduled, a renewed spike in coronavirus infections and slow vaccine distribution schemes have added to worries about the fate of the Olympics, set to start in July after being postponed last year. “A change to the plans for the Olympics would have a limited impact on overall near-term growth prospects, given that Japan is a large and diversified economy,” said Odd Per Brekk, the deputy director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific department on Tuesday.