The Japanese government on Monday upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months, citing gradual improvement in exports and industrial output.
"The Japanese economy is picking up slowly," the Cabinet Office said in its May report. Exports are showing signs of picking up and industrial production is slowly gathering pace, the report said.
The government expects economic recovery to resume gradually supported by improvement in confidence and export conditions as well as due to the effects of the fiscal and monetary policies.
However, it remained concerned about the developments in the global economy and said slowdown of overseas economies still posed "downside risk."
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com