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▼ Japan Logs Record ¥1.93 Tril Current Account Surplus In November
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Japan posted a record current account surplus of 1.93 trillion yen in November, helped by a smaller trade deficit and a revival of inbound tourism, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
The current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, expanded 8.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the 10th straight month of black ink.
Japan's trade deficit more than halved to 724.1 billion yen as imports fell more than exports. With the value of energy imports sharply down, overall imports fell 11.4 percent to 9.35 trillion yen, while exports slipped 4.5 percent to 8.62 trillion yen.
The services balance swung back into the black, standing at 24.7 billion yen due to increased spending by foreign visitors to Japan.
Japan's travel surplus grew over 1.8-fold to 296 billion yen, meaning spending by foreign travelers to Japan far exceeded the amount spent by Japanese overseas.
The number of foreign visitors to Japan saw a 2.6-fold increase to 2.44 million in November, according to the government.
The return of foreign tourists is a boon to Japan amid the yen's persistent weakness, which has inflated import costs for energy and raw materials for resource-scarce Japan, leading to massive trade deficits.
A weaker yen also boosts the overseas profits from Japanese exports, but outbound shipments fell for the first time in three months in November.
Weak exports point to slowing overseas economies after aggressive interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe to curb surging inflation by cooling demand, analysts say.
Primary income, which reflects returns on overseas investments, however, dropped 20.3 percent to 2.89 trillion yen.
A decline in dividend payments in the shipping sector compared with a year earlier offset higher income from rising overseas bond yields, according to the ministry.
Comparable data became available in 1985.
© KYODO
The current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, expanded 8.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the 10th straight month of black ink.
Japan's trade deficit more than halved to 724.1 billion yen as imports fell more than exports. With the value of energy imports sharply down, overall imports fell 11.4 percent to 9.35 trillion yen, while exports slipped 4.5 percent to 8.62 trillion yen.
The services balance swung back into the black, standing at 24.7 billion yen due to increased spending by foreign visitors to Japan.
Japan's travel surplus grew over 1.8-fold to 296 billion yen, meaning spending by foreign travelers to Japan far exceeded the amount spent by Japanese overseas.
The number of foreign visitors to Japan saw a 2.6-fold increase to 2.44 million in November, according to the government.
The return of foreign tourists is a boon to Japan amid the yen's persistent weakness, which has inflated import costs for energy and raw materials for resource-scarce Japan, leading to massive trade deficits.
A weaker yen also boosts the overseas profits from Japanese exports, but outbound shipments fell for the first time in three months in November.
Weak exports point to slowing overseas economies after aggressive interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe to curb surging inflation by cooling demand, analysts say.
Primary income, which reflects returns on overseas investments, however, dropped 20.3 percent to 2.89 trillion yen.
A decline in dividend payments in the shipping sector compared with a year earlier offset higher income from rising overseas bond yields, according to the ministry.
Comparable data became available in 1985.
© KYODO
- January 13, 2024
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