Tokyo (Reuters) – The Japan economy progressed at a rate higher than expectations over the period October -December, show government data published on Monday, thanks in particular to the solidity of domestic demand and business expenditure.
Domestic demand has contributed to supporting the rebound in the fourth world economy, even threats to customs duties issued by US President Donald Trump feed concerns about exports.
This positive data is expected to strengthen the Banque du Japan (BOJ) project to continue to raise interest rates and normalize its monetary policy.
In the fourth quarter, the Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.8%, beating the consensus which appeared at +1.0% after an increase of 1.7% in final reading in the previous quarter.
In quarterly pace, the Japanese economy increased by 0.7% over the period October-December, while analysts anticipated an average of 0.3%.
Private consumption, which represents more than half of Japanese economic production, surprised by taking 0.1%. The consensus gave a decline of 0.3%. The fact remains that this is a slowdown compared to the previous quarter, indicating that the increase in the prices of food goods prompted homes to caution.
Investment expenditure increased by 0.5% over the period October-December, against a consensus of 1.0%.
(Satoshi Sugiyama, Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Sugiyama; Jean Terzian)
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