Reuters reports that the Japan government said in revised estimates that Japan's economy is set to recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, helped by solid exports as well as consumer spending supported by progress in vaccinations.

In a mid-year review, the government now forecasts that during the fiscal year to end-March, the economy will expand 3.7% and at some point real gross domestic product (GDP) will exceed the 547 trillion yen ($4.9 trillion) marked in October-December 2019.

The forecasts appear to show a weaker expansion than the government's January estimate of 4.0% growth for this fiscal year. But that is largely due to a smaller-than-expected 4.6% contraction for the economy in fiscal 2020.

Growth for the next fiscal year is expected to slow to 2.2% as the pace of exports moderates. But robust domestic demand will lift GDP to a record 558 trillion yen, according to the projections which serve as a basis for policy-making and crafting the state budget.