Japan’s Current Account Surplus Down 4.8 Pct in Aug.

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s current account surplus fell 4.8 pct from a year before to 3,775.8 billion yen in August, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The current account balance, the broadest indicator of a country’s international trade and investment flows, marked the seventh consecutive month of surplus. But the surplus shrank as the primary income account, which mainly covers Japanese companies’ dividend and interest receipts from abroad, saw its surplus decrease 11.5 pct to 4,298.6 billion yen. The primary income surplus, however, was the second largest for August, only after the year-before result, which was pushed up by large dividend incomes. Japan’s goods trade surplus stood at 105.9 billion yen, recovering from the year-before deficit of 385.6 billion yen. Exports declined 0.4 pct to 8,359.6 billion yen due to a fall in automobile and steel shipments. Imports decreased 6.0 pct to 8,253.7 billion yen, led by the weakness of crude oil and medical goods. In services trade, Japan saw its deficit expand to 189.9 billion yen from 79 billion yen, reflecting a decline in the intellectual property royalty surplus. Still, the travel account surplus reached 419.5 billion yen, a record high for August, thanks to an increase in visitors to Japan. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]