Bank of Japan Lifts Economic Growth Outlook

The Bank of Japan raised its economic growth forecast for the current financial year on Tuesday, though a government report showed the country's household spending fell for the 10th straight month.

    The central bank expects the Japanese economy will expand 1.4% in the year through March, revised up from October estimates of 1.0% growth, it said in a statement issued after a two-day monetary policy meeting.

    The bank also predicts 1.5% growth in the next financial year through March 2018, up from the 1.3% expansion estimated three months ago. "Japan's economy is likely to turn to a moderate expansion," the bank said. 

    The bank, however, predicts the country's consumer price index will fall 0.2%, down from the 0.1% fall estimated three months ago. The estimates are far below the 2% target set by the bank in April 2013, when it started an aggressive monetary easing campaign to overcome deflation and stimulate the economy. 

    Also on Tuesday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, reported that household spending in Japan fell 0.3% year-on-year in December, for the 10th straight month of decline. Meanwhile, industrial production rose 0.5% in December from the previous month for the second straight month of rise thanks to a weaker yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement.