Japan economy minister Amari 'a little concerned' about recovery's strength

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari expressed concern on Sunday about the strength of the economic recovery and said it will take time to establish self-sustaining growth.

"The recovery trend is certain," Amari told a talk show on public broadcaster NHK. "The July-September numbers should show a robust recovery" from the sharp second-quarter drop in the wake of an April 1 sales-tax increase.

"But I'm a little concerned that this robustness is a bit weak."

Amari said it will take time for a positive economic cycle to take hold as companies cannot in a single year raise wages enough to compensate for the tax increase and the inflation generated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reflationary policies.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Writing by William Mallard; Editing by James Dalgleish)