The Japanese government is likely to revise down its assessment of the world's third-biggest economy for the first time since October due to slowing exports, media said on Saturday. The government is expected to point out that some business areas are weakening in the report to be released on Tuesday, media said.
The Nikkei business daily and Kyodo news agency said the report was likely to say exports and production, including auto output, were slowing. Last month, Japan's government stuck to its assessment that the economy was recovering moderately, helped by reconstruction after last year's earthquake.
Exports fell from a year earlier for the second straight month in July, with a 8.1 percent annual fall far deeper than economists' forecast of a 2.9 percent drop as shipments to Europe and China tumbled. A Reuters poll on Friday showed that sentiment of big Japanese manufacturers worsened in August and was expected to improve only slightly in coming months.