Japan is expected to revise up its economic growth forecasts for the current and next fiscal years, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday, helping Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make the case his stimulus policies are working. Data released on Friday showed the world's third-largest economy grew twice as fast as originally estimated in the third quarter, thanks to a business spending splurge and buoyant exports.
In predictions to be released later this month, the Cabinet Office will revise up its growth forecast for the year beginning in April, perhaps to near 2 percent from the current 1.4 percent, the Nikkei said without citing sources.