Tokyo, Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is unlikely to meet its target of achieving pre-pandemic levels of gross domestic product by the end of this year, due to the expansion of its COVID-19 state of emergency and pre-emergency measures, economists said.

The government is set to expand its state of emergency again, to a new total of 21 prefectures, covering 80 pct of the domestic economy. In addition, several prefectures will be added to the list of areas covered by the less strict pre-emergency measures.

Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc., expects that the latest moves will expand the fall in private consumption caused by the coronavirus measures from 1.4 trillion yen to 1.6 trillion yen.

GDP for July-September will be pushed down by around 1 pct, “making positive growth difficult,” Nagahama said.

He added that economic recovery cannot be achieved unless Japan’s medical system is strengthened, characterizing the government’s target of reaching pre-pandemic GDP levels by the end of this year as “hopeless.”