Fitch cut its credit rating on heavily indebted Japan by one notch Monday, saying it has not done enough to plug a budget gap left by its decision to delay a sales tax rise, AFP reported. The move saw Japan’s rating trimmed to “A” from “A+”, several months after rival credit agency Moody’s also downgraded Japan’s credit rating. Moody’s cited “rising uncertainty” over the national debt and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering efforts to kickstart the world’s number three economy. Tokyo raised its sales levy in April 2014 – to 8% from 5% -- for the first time in 17 years, in a bid to generate more revenue to pay down an eye-watering national debt. But the increase slammed the brakes on growth and pushed Japan into a brief recession just as the economy, plagued by years of deflation, appeared to be turning a corner.
