Tokyo back in trade deficit: Gov't
The government of Japan has released new figures showing the country was back in a trade deficit last month.
The statistics released on Monday put April's deficit at $440 million. The shortfall in the budget followed a surplus in March, the first surplus in three years.
The number was much narrower than expected from experts in Japan, but still, it shows that the worst is not over yet for the Asian country after years of economic turmoil.
The reason for the deficit, according to government statistics, was because the country's imports exceeded exports.
For the month of April, however, the overall deficit was the narrowest since March 2009, said the ministry of economy.
Nevertheless, Japan reported that one of the key components for the deficit was the plunge in global oil prices since last summer.
It remains to be a factor curbing the value of the country’s overall import bill.
The decrease in the value of crude led to a rise in oil imports, which then overshadowed Japan’s outbound delivery of goods, including vehicles.
Because oil was so cheap, the government said, the overall volume of imported goods increased 0.1% from a year earlier, and exports increased 1.8%.
Two other factors are the slowing economies of the US and China.
Shipments to China, Japan's largest trading partner, specifically cars, halved in in April from March, data also showed.
Japan is the world’s third largest economy after losing the number two title to China several years ago.
Japan was hit hard by the 2007-2008 global financial meltdown from which it never totally recovered.
HDS/NN/HRB
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