JAPAN’S economy grew more than expected in the third quarter as exports offset slack consumer spending, government data showed yesterday, offering up some rare good news for Tokyo’s battered growth project.

    The world’s third-largest economy expanded 0.5 percent quarter on quarter between July and September, for an annualized 2.2 percent gain in gross domestic product (GDP), the Cabinet Office said.

    That handily beat market expectations for a 0.2 percent growth rate, or an annualized expansion of 0.8 percent.

    Japan’s economy contracted in the last three months of 2015, before bouncing back in the January-March period with a 0.5 percent rise quarter on quarter and then a tepid 0.2 percent expansion in the April-June period.

    The wobbly growth trend has put Japanese officials under pressure to deliver as economists increasingly write off Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bid to cement a lasting recovery, dubbed Abenomics.

    His spend-for-growth policy boosted stock prices and pushed down the yen, helping Japanese exports.

    But the yen, often bought as a safe haven in times of uncertainty, had been on the upswing since the start of the year, and got a big bump after Britain’s shock vote to exit the European Union.

    It has recently weakened against on the U.S. dollar after billionaire businessman Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, offering up some good news for Abe’s administration.

    The Japanese currency yesterday was around four-month lows against the greenback, brightening the outlook for exporters in the coming months.

    “The third quarter GDP was a positive surprise, it should be a relief for Japanese policymakers,” said Kohei Iwahara, an economist at Natixis Japan Securities.

    “However, exports are making all the growth, mainly due to a pickup in the eurozone, so it could a one-off windfall. I would expect a slowdown in the fourth quarter.”

    There are concerns about the impact of Trump’s presidency, including the possible derailing of a trade pact that is pillar of Abe’s plans to revive growth, including kickstarting the export sector.

    Trump has expressed strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation agreement spanning some 40 percent of the global economy.

    The United States and Japan are the two biggest members, but the trade deal became a hot-button issue during the U.S. election campaign, with critics including Trump saying it would cost American jobs.

    It has been signed but is yet to be ratified by lawmakers in the United States. (SD-Agencies)