Japan's current account surplus continue to shrink

Japan's current account surplus in September fell for the 7th month in-a-row. This is mainly due to rising energy imports for thermal power plants, replacing the shortfall in nuclear power since the March disaster.

A Finance Ministry report released on Wednesday says the current account balance fell 21.4 percent from a year earlier to about 20.4 billion dollars.

The trade balance also fell, by 59 percent year-on-year to a surplus of about 4.8 billion dollars.

Higher crude oil prices and falling exports of electronic components due to the strong yen, pushed down the trade surplus.

The income account surplus rose 12.9 percent to nearly 18 billion dollars, due to higher returns on overseas investments.

The balance of international payments in the 6 months through September shrank 46.8 percent from the previous year.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011 12:51 +0900 (JST)