TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - First quarter GDP was revised to quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.1 pct from a preliminary estimate of a 0.2 pct fall due to stronger than expected household spending, the Cabinet Office said.
The revision was the first from negative to positive growth since the second quarter of 1994, when GDP was revised to a rise of 0.2 pct quarter-on-quarter from a fall of 0.4 pct.
Katsuki Oda, director of the national accounts department of the Cabinet Office's Economic and Social Research Institute, attributed the GDP revision to household spending data released by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs and Telecommunications on Aug 10. The data revised spending by a single household in the first quarter to a 6.4 pct fall year-on-year from an initial estimate of a 10.6 pct decline.
The revision in first quarter GDP data led an upgrade in the year to March 2001 GDP growth figure to 1.0 pct from the previous estimate of 0.9 pct. However this was still below the official target for that year of 1.2 pct growth.
The Cabinet Office said Japan now needs to see 0.5 pct growth every quarter to attain the official growth target of 1.7 pct for the year to March 2002.
In June, the Cabinet Office had said Japan needed to see 0.6 pct growth every quarter to attain the year to March 2002 official growth target.