TOKYO, March 9: Japan will upgrade its official assessment of the economy as exports and production show signs of improvement in line with a US economic recovery, a report said on Saturday.

In recent monthly economic reports issued by the Cabinet Office, the government has continually described the nation’s economy as deteriorating.

But the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said the government planned to delete the word “deterioration” from its March report and say positive signs are emerging in the economy, despite some hardship.

The upgrade was prompted by the United States’ economic recovery, which helped support Japanese exports and production, the daily said.

State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka will submit the March report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s cabinet on March 19, it said.

On Friday, Tokyo announced Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.2 per cent in the three months to December from the previous quarter, with a 4.5-per cent plunge on an annualized basis.

The government has forecast Japan’s economy will fall by 1.0 per cent in the current fiscal year to March 2002 and zero economic growth in the next fiscal year to March 2003.

BANK MERGER: Japanese mega-banks UFJ Holdings Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. will give three million dollars in financial support to debt-laden Japanese builder Fujita Corp., a report said on Saturday.—AFP