Japan Logs Current Account Surplus of 3,907.8 B. Yen in April

Tokyo, June 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan logged a current account surplus of 3,907.8 billion yen in April, up from the year-before surplus of 2,370 billion yen, thanks to increased corporate income from overseas subsidiaries and a trade balance returning to the black, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The current account balance, the broadest indicator of a country’s international trade and investment flows, marked the 15th consecutive month of surplus. Exports rose 13.9 pct from a year earlier to 10,108.1 billion yen and imports went up 9.5 pct to 9,712.4 billion yen, both pushed up by robust trade of electronic components including semiconductors. The country posted a goods trade surplus of 395.7 billion yen, against the year-before deficit of 700 million yen. Imports of crude oil and other products from the Middle East fell amid the worsening situation in the region, but the impact on Japan’s overall trade balance was limited. The surplus in the primary income account, which includes Japanese companies’ dividend and interest receipts from abroad, climbed to 4,210 billion yen from 3,649.8 billion yen a year earlier, supported in part by the yen’s weakening, which lifted the yen-denominated value of income. In services trade, including transportation and travel, Japan logged a deficit of 416 billion yen, down from 725.9 billion yen a year earlier. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]