The government Thursday retained its assessment that the economy is recovering moderately but downgraded its view on private consumption for the first time in 11 months.
The monthly economic assessment for February said that sluggish consumer spending remains one of the major bottlenecks for growth as the Cabinet Office upgraded its view on business investment, exports and imports.
"The Japanese economy is on a moderate recovery, while delayed improvement in part can be seen," the report said, using the same wording for three months in a row.