On July 2nd, Jin10 data reported that two economists changed their views on the Japanese economy on the second day after the GDP data for the first quarter was significantly revised down. They predicted that there would be a contraction in 2024, which also highlights the dilemma faced by the Bank of Japan in weighing the reasons for raising interest rates. According to a report on Tuesday, economists from BNP Paribas and SMBC Nikko Securities in Japan have lowered their economic growth expectations, predicting the first annual contraction in Japan since the epidemic in 2020 in 2024. Ryutaro Kono, an economist at BNP Paribas, expects GDP to contract by 0.4%, while economists such as Yoshimasa Maruyama of SMBC expect the economy to decline by 0.3%. Both economists previously predicted a slight expansion of the Japanese economy. The Japanese government released a report on Monday revising the shrinkage of the economy in the first quarter from the previous 1.8% to 2.9%. The adjustment of economic expectations will be a factor for members of the Bank of Japan Policy Board to discuss at the end of this month. According to a survey conducted last week, one-third of the surveyed economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates at the meeting.