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Japan saw a current account surplus of ¥899.8 billion in January, compared with a record deficit of ¥132.7 billion a year earlier, as exports recovered at the fastest pace on record, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The current account, the broadest gauge of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, stayed in the black for the 12th month running, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
The balance of trade in goods and services posted a surplus of ¥37.3 billion, a turnaround from the ¥1.057 trillion deficit a year before.
The year-on-year expansion was the largest since January 1986, when comparable data became available.
The surplus in merchandise trade stood at ¥197.2 billion, compared with a deficit of ¥844.8 billion a year earlier.
Exports jumped 40.6 percent to ¥4.617 trillion for the second straight month of expansion. The year-on-year growth for exports was also the largest on record, as Japan saw a steady rise in shipments of cars, auto parts and high-tech products to China and the rest of Asia.
Imports turned positive for the first time in 15 months, up 7.1 percent to ¥4.42 trillion, partly because the average import price of crude oil rose about 80 percent from a year before.
"It is almost certain that Japan will continue to post a current account surplus because the pickup in overseas demand is much stronger than that in domestic demand," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Shinko Research Institute.
"The Japanese economy has been driven mainly by external demand from Asia, and this trend will continue for some time," he said.
The dramatic improvements in current account figures in the reporting month are also largely attributable to favorable comparisons with the previous year's figures.
On a year-on-year basis, the current account in terms of value recovered at the second-fastest pace on record. In January 2009, mired in the global financial crisis, Japan posted a current account deficit for the first time in 13 years.
Source: Kyodo news
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