JAPAN

Think Tank Lowers Growth Estimate: Slower economic growth in Japan will affect forecasts for the industrialized world, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development said. Figures released by the industrialized nations’ think tank show Japan’s gross domestic product growing by just 1.3% this year, compared to the 2.5% forecast made six months ago, and by 2.3% in 1996, down from 3.4%. Those revisions are the main element in the group’s marking down growth estimates for the whole 25-nation bloc: to 2.7% in 1995 from 3% forecast in December, and to 2.7% next year from 2.9%.