The Japanese economy grew at a 5.9-per-cent annual rate in the January-to-March period thanks to last-minute purchases before the sales-tax increase in April, the Government said Thursday.
The reading on gross domestic product was above the 4.3-per-cent growth predicted in a poll of economists by the Nikkei business daily.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60 per cent of gross domestic product, rose 2.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Corporate investment grew 4.9 per cent in the same period, the Cabinet Office said.
In April, the Government raised the nation’s sales tax to 8 per cent from 5 per cent.
Annual growth in the October—December period was revised downward, however, to 0.3 per cent from 0.7 per cent estimated in March.