Japan’s economy expanded by 1 per cent

Growth in the World’s third largest Japanese economy expanded by 1 per cent in the first quarter, best for Japan in two years, up from an initial estimate of 0.6 per cent

from the previous quarter according to an official government data. A leap in business spending aided growth above all expectations.

It grew 3.9% on an annualised basis, compared to a preliminary reading of 2.4%, and much higher than forecasts of 2.7% growth.

Core consumer spending fell to the lowest level since April 2014, and a slowdown in GDP (gross domestic product) growth in the second quarter.

Japan’s current account surplus was at 1.3 trillion yen ($10.5bn; £6.7bn), compared to a forecast of 1.7 trillion yen, despite hitting surplus for the 10^th consecutive month. In May, the surplus

was at a seven-year high of 2.8 trillion yen.