Japan Logs 1st Current Account Deficit in 2 Years in Jan.

   Tokyo, March 10 (Jiji Press)--Japan swung to a current account deficit for the first time in two years in January as the deficit in goods trade nearly doubled due to effects from the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, preliminary government data showed Monday.
   Japan logged a deficit of 257.6 billion yen in the current account, a measure of trade and investment flows, compared with a surplus of 334.3 billion yen a year before, the Finance Ministry said.
   In goods trade, Japan's deficit climbed 92.9 pct from a year earlier to 2,937.9 billion yen as its imports grew faster than its exports. Japan's imports from China tend to increase before the Lunar New Year holidays, while its exports to China decline.
   Japan's overall imports surged 17.7 pct to 10,440.1 billion yen and its exports rose 2.1 pct to 7,502.2 billion yen.
   The surplus on the primary income account, which covers Japanese companies' dividend and interest receipts from abroad, jumped 20.5 pct to 3,601.5 billion yen, its highest level for January, thanks to dividends in the automobile industry.

(2025/03/10-13:07)

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