PHOTO: REUTERS[TOKYO] Japan’s government cut its economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year on Thursday, as higher oil prices linked to Middle East tensions squeeze household spending and corporate profits. The weaker outlook for this fiscal year highlights the strain rising energy costs are placing on an economy heavily dependent on imported fuel. Consumer inflation is projected to be 2.2 per cent in fiscal 2026, above the government’s January estimate of 1.9 per cent, reflecting the impact of higher energy costs. Except for the asset bubble period between 1986 and 1991, Japan’s primary budget balance has been in deficit for most of the postwar era, resulting in a vast debt pile more than twice the size of the economy, the largest among developed economies. Plans to return to a budget surplus — a goal first introduced in the early 2000s — have been pushed back multiple times.