Economic growth was revised upward to an annualized real 2.2 percent in the January-March period thanks to an upswing in capital expenditure in the nonmanufacturing sector, government data showed Monday, though analysts continued to emphasize the risk of a downturn due to sluggish personal consumption.
The data released by the Cabinet Office, revising growth up from the preliminary estimate of a 2.1 percent expansion, did not change analysts' view that the rise in GDP was due to a technical factor, with imports declining faster than exports and consequently pushing up real GDP.
In the three-month period, exports dropped 2.4 percent and imports sank 4.6 percent, as in the initial reading. As a result, net exports — exports minus imports — pushed up GDP by 0.4 percentage point.