Japan upgrades its economic evaluation

TOKYO - Reuters

Japan’s government raised its assessment on the economy for a second straight month in June as pick-up in exports and industrial output is supporting a steady economic recovery led by its sweeping fiscal and monetary stimulus policies.

The economy is picking up steadily, the government said in its monthly economic report issued yesterrday, striking a slightly more upbeat note than the previous month when it was described as improving gradually.

The upgrade came as a further encouraging signal for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to pull the world’s third-biggest economy out of nearly two decades of deflation and stagnation, with his policy prescription dubbed ‘Abenomics’.

The diagnosis was in line with that of the Bank of Japan, which raised its view on the economy for a sixth straight month on June 11, saying it is picking up. The BOJ held off on new steps arguing that bond markets had stabilized.