Tokyo, Aug 12 (IANS): The Japanese economy grew at an yearly rate of 2.6 percent in the second quarter, falling short of market expectations, official figures showed Monday.

Compared with the previous three months, the world's third largest economy expanded by 0.6 percent in the period from April to June, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth, reported Xinhua.

However, analysts had expected an annualised growth of 3.2 percent for the Japanese economy in the second quarter.

Consumption, the main driver of Japan's economic growth, rose by merely 0.8 percent, while exports registered a strong growth of 3.0 percent, thanks to a weaker yen as a result of the drastic monetary easing by Bank of Japan.

The slower growth in the second quarter aroused doubts over the impact of the economic stimulus plan launched by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It may delay the government's plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015, a key measure to consolidate public finance of the debt-laden country.