The International Monetary Fund now expects Japan's economy to contract 0.5 percent in 2002, an upward revision from its April projection of a 1 percent shrinkage, a senior IMF official said Monday.
The economy is "on a moderate recovery path," IMF Deputy Managing Director Shigemitsu Sugisaki said in an interview.
The upward revision apparently reflects a recent cyclical recovery in the economy. The latest projection is expected to be included in an annual report to be issued soon by the IMF on Japan's economic conditions.
Sugisaki, however, said the moderate recovery alone is not enough and the future course of the economy is still uncertain.