Japan's economy stages modest COVID recovery

STORY: Japan's economy staged a modest comeback from its COVID slump, but at a pace slower than analysts expected.

A revival in Japan, like many other economies, has been hobbled by the Ukraine war and surging prices of commodities even as a ramp up in consumption propped up growth in April to June.

Official figures out Monday showed GDP grew 2.2% in the second quarter, year-on-year, falling short of a 2.5-percent average forecast among analysts.

That slower-than-expected pace highlights uncertainty ahead, as to whether the rise in consumption really can power a much-delayed, fragile recovery.

The outlook for Japan is clouded by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, slowing global growth, supply constraints and rising raw material prices - all of that, pushing up the cost of living there.

While the new data marks a third straight quarter of economic expansion, Japan has been slower than other major economies in fully bouncing back from the pandemic.

Consumption until now had been weak, blamed in part by COVID curbs that lasted until March.

That sluggishness has turned the Bank of Japan into an outlier in the global monetary tightening phase sweeping across many economies amid surging inflation.