Japanese government: Economy is recovering first time in 10 months

The Japanese government on Tuesday upgraded its overall economic assessment for the third straight month in July, using the word "recovery" for the first time in 10 months. "The Japanese economy is picking up steadily and shows some movements towards a self-sustainable recovery," the Cabinet office said in its monthly economic report for July. The office said the "economy is picking up steadily" in the previous report for June. The office also raised its assessment of 14 categories, such as industrial production, capital investment and private consumption. The report also said "Recent price developments indicate that deflation is easing," as the government has been striving to end the deflation that has lasted 15 years. The assessment is in line with that of the Bank of Japan, which raised earlier this month its assessment of the nation's economy for the seventh consecutive month, saying it is starting to recover moderately. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December, has promoted his ambitious economic policies called "Abenomics" platform to boost Japan's economy, which is focusing on easing monetary policy by the Bank of Japan and massive government spending. Japan's economy grew faster than initially estimated in the January-March on stronger corporate capital spending, the government said Monday. The world's No. 3 economy's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual 4.1 percent pace in the first quarter, higher than a preliminary figure of 3.5 percent released last month.