WNAM REPORT: Japan posted a record 15.82 trillion yen ($103 billion) current account surplus in the first half of fiscal 2024, boosted by increased returns on foreign investments amid a weaker yen, government data showed Monday, as per reports.
In the April-September period, the surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, expanded 12.3 percent from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Of the total, primary income, which reflects how much Japan earned from investments overseas, logged a 22.12 trillion yen surplus, up 13.3 percent, buoyed by rising stock dividends and bond yields abroad, the ministry said.
Both the current account and primary income surpluses were the biggest for any fiscal half-year period since comparable data became available in 1985.
Japan’s goods trade deficit came to 2.41 trillion yen, up 86.8 percent, as exports rose 5.0 percent to 52.22 trillion yen and imports expanded 7.1 percent to 54.64 trillion yen.
A weaker yen has become a headache for resource-poor Japan because it inflates import costs for everything from energy to food, contributing to the cost-of-living crisis.
However, it boosts the value of investment returns and serves as a positive factor for inbound tourism as traveling to and shopping in Japan becomes cheaper for foreign visitors.
In the April-September period, the yen was 8.2 percent weaker against the U.S. dollar and was down 8.1 percent versus the euro, compared with a year earlier, reflecting wide interest rate differentials between Japan and other major economies.
On the back of a surge in the number of foreign visitors to Japan, the travel surplus hit a record 3.10 trillion yen, helping to trim the services trade deficit by 10.4 percent to 1.97 trillion yen.
A travel surplus means the amount spent by overseas travelers in Japan exceeded what Japanese spent abroad.
In September alone, Japan had a current account surplus of 1.72 trillion yen, remaining in the black for the 20th straight month.
It registered a trade deficit of 315.2 billion yen as exports declined 4.5 percent to 8.70 trillion yen while imports increased 3.2 percent to 9.01 trillion yen.
Primary income surplus in the reporting month declined 14.4 percent to 2.77 trillion yen.
