The Cabinet Office: Estimate

estimate: The first preliminary estimate had put the rate of growth for the world's third-largest economy at 2.6 per cent, according to Times Colonist. The stronger data make it more likely the government will go ahead with a planned sales tax increase that some economists worry could slow the recovery, but which is needed to help curb the country's massive national debt and TOKYO - Japan's economy expanded faster in April-June than earlier reported, according to a revised estimate showing a real annualized growth rate of 3.8 per cent, thanks to higher spending on private and public investment. The Cabinet Office also said Monday that the economy expanded 0.9 per cent from the previous quarter, compared with an earlier estimate of a 0.6 per cent increase. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.