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Japan’s trade deficit doubles in October
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Japan’s October trade deficit nearly doubled from a year ago, official data showed yesterday, as soaring post-Fukushima energy bills eclipsed an improving export picture.
Government figures showed that Japan logged a bigger-than-expected 1.09 trillion yen (US$10.9 billion) trade deficit last month.
The latest figure, a record for October, was nearly double a 556.2 billion yen shortfall a year earlier and marked the 16th straight month of deficit, the longest stretch in more than three decades.
Energy imports surged after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of Japan’s nuclear reactors, which once supplied a third of the nation’s power.
A sharp decline in the yen, which is good for exporters’ profitability, has also forced up the cost of importing pricey fossil-fuels to plug the country’s energy gap.
The yen has been under pressure since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office late last year, launched a policy blitz that meshed government spending with a central bank monetary easing plan unveiled in April.
The moves are aimed at rebooting the world’s third-largest economy, which has suffered from growth-sapping deflation for years.
Japan’s trade imbalance was largely due to the rising cost — and volume — of crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments as well as surging purchases of electronic parts.
Overall, imports jumped 26.1 percent to 7.2 trillion yen from a year ago, rising at their fastest pace in more than three years.
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