Tokyo

BOTH the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Japanese government on Friday upgraded their assessments of Japan's short to medium-term economic prospects, saying that the outlook for domestic demand and exports is improving somewhat, despite the fact that the economy slid into recession in the third quarter of this year.

The latest assessments by the Japanese central bank and the Cabinet Office come after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration was given a new four-year mandate in last Sunday's snap general election to carry out its Abenomics policies.