Japan govt maintains economic assessment, downgrades view on exports

By Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government on Thursday maintained its assessment on the economy but offered a bleaker view than last month on exports due to the fallout from slowing Chinese demand.

"Japan's economy is recovering moderately, although it recently appears to be pausing," the government said in its monthly economic report for July, leaving unchanged the assessment from last month.

But the government revised down its assessment on exports to say they were moving sideways. In June, it said a recovery in exports was stalling.

The downgrade reflected signs of weakness in China's economy, which is suffering from a property market slump and soft domestic demand.

The government maintained its view that a pick-up in consumption was stalling.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; editing by Leika Kihara and Sam Holmes)