Japan’s Oct.-Dec. GDP Growth Expected to Be Revised Up

Tokyo, March 5 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s annualized real gross domestic product growth for last year’s October-December period is forecast to be revised up to 1.2 pct, according to estimates by 10 private think tanks. The figure, which represents the average among the research institutes, is higher than the preliminary result of 0.2 pct growth announced last month. The upward revision is seen mainly reflecting higher-than-expected capital expenditure growth. The Cabinet Office will release revised GDP data for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 on Tuesday. In view of the Finance Ministry’s quarterly report on corporate business results released Tuesday, capital investment is believed to have risen 1.1 pct from the previous quarter on a nonannualized basis, exceeding the preliminary growth of 0.2 pct. Public investment should have fallen 0.4 pct, a smaller decline than the preliminary 1.3 pct. Many economists expect the economy to continue growing in January-March as high consumer prices ease. However, the escalating tensions in the Middle East, sparked by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, have raised concerns. “It will be difficult to see the improvement in real wages expected in 2026,” if rising crude oil prices due to the conflicts push up overall prices, Naoki Hattori of Mizuho Research & Technologies Ltd. said, warning that such a situation could dampen the current steady growth. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]