TOKYO: Japanese business sentiment worsened sharply in the first quarter and next fiscal year’s capital expenditure plans were the weakest since 2009, suggesting recent financial market turbulence and sluggish global demand were taking a toll on a fragile economic recovery. Confidence soured for both manufacturers and service-sector firms for the first time since the second quarter of 2014, when private consumption took a hit from an increase in sales tax in April of that year. The sentiment data keeps pressure on policymakers to deploy additional fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to re-flate an economy that is skirting another recession. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) meets for a rate review next week, while Premier Shinzo Abe has signalled that delaying a scheduled second hike in the sales tax next year could be a real possibility.