Japan August current account surplus down 64.3pct y/y

12-Oct-2011 Intellasia | Reuters | 7:01 AM

Japan’s current account surplus

fell 64.3 percent in August from a year earlier, down for the sixth straight month, Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday, as slowing global growth weighed on exports and energy imports rose after the March natural disaster.

The fall was bigger than a median forecast by economists for a 61.2 percent drop, and followed a 42.4 percent fall in the year to July.

The surplus stood at 407.5 billion yen ($5.3 billion), against a median forecast for 443.8 billion yen.

Following are details of the current account balance: economists’ median forecast is in parentheses:

                      AUG                 JULY     AUG YR BEFORE	
----------------------------------------------------------------	
 Current account 	
  balance           +407.5
(+443.8)        +990.2  
  +1,142.9 
  Trade balance      -694.7               +123.3       +170.6 
  Income balance   +1,353.9             +1,246.7     +1,145.0   

----------------------------------------------------------------($1 = 76.730 Japanese Yen)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/japan-economy-current-idUST9E7KM01F20111010