Japan's economy will shrink at the fastest pace in decades in the year through March 2021, forcing the government to compile another stimulus package to cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. Many respondents predicted the Bank of Japan's (BOJ's) next policy step would be to expand stimulus, but they do not see the pandemic triggering a banking sector crisis this year. The world's third-largest economy is forecast to contract 5.3% this fiscal year, a July 3-9 poll of over 30 economists shows, the most it has shrunk since comparable data became available in 1994. It will rebound 3.3% next year, according to the poll. The economy will grow at an annualised 10.0% pace in the current quarter of the calendar year 2020 after having shrunk 23.9% in the second quarter ended June, the poll shows. "It would take two to three years for economic activity to return to normal levels in Japan as its overseas markets are likely to continue suffering from the spread of the virus," said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute.