Analysts expect Japan’s gross domestic product to grow 0.8 percent in real terms, or an annualized 3.3 percent, in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous October-December period.
The forecast by each of the 15 leading private research institutes said the GDP will not shrink but grow in the January-March period.
It would mark the first growth in two quarters.
The GDP in the October-December quarter shrank by 0.7 percent on an annual basis.
The Cabinet Office will release its figure for the January-March quarter on May 17.
Consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent of the GDP, was bullish, especially in the field of car sales, the 15 research institutes said. The growth of consumer spending ranged from 0.4 percent to 1.1 percent.
Exports, which plunged in the October-December quarter, are also expected to recover in the January-March period.
Fourteen of the institutes predicted that investments in public works projects, including those for recovery efforts in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, will increase for the first time in three quarters.
Eight said the increase will be drastic--5 percent or higher--with Mitsubishi Research Institute predicting the highest 9.9 percent growth.
Twelve of the institutes said investment by private companies in plant and equipment, which grew drastically in the October-December quarter, will decrease in the January-March period.
As for investments in housing construction or renovation, Daiwa Institute of Research predicts 2.0 percent growth partly due to reconstruction in areas affected by the March 11, 2011, disaster.
On the other hand, Itochu Economic Research Institute forecasts a decrease of 1.5 percent due to a "rebound" from 2011 when demand was bullish due to the Eco-Point program for housing construction or renovation.
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