UPDATE2: Cheaper oil helps Japan keep logging current account surplus in Jan.
Japan
posted a current account surplus for the 19th consecutive month in January, the government said Tuesday, with declining crude oil prices driving down imports and a growing number of foreign tourists helping to push travel further into the black.
The surplus in one of the widest gauges of a country's international trade stood at 520.8 billion yen ($4.6 billion), up more than fivefold from 101.8 billion yen a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said.
Among key components in the account, goods trade posted a deficit of 411.0 billion yen, with exports falling 15.4 percent from a year earlier to 5.36 trillion yen amid a slowdown in Chinese and other emerging economies and imports sliding 19.8 percent to 5.77 trillion yen.
The value of crude oil imports fell 43.4 percent as average oil prices plunged 41.6 percent to $37.01 per barrel in the month. The value of liquefied natural gas imports dropped 55.4 percent.
Japan
has been relying heavily on energy imports since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster led most of the country's commercial reactors to remain offline amid heightened public concern about their safety.
The travel surplus expanded about threefold to 134.7 billion yen, a record high since comparable data became available in 1996, as the number of foreign tourists grew 52.0 percent in January from a year earlier to 1.85 million, according to the ministry.
The service balance, which also includes passenger transportation and royalties, logged a deficit of 226.7 billion yen, smaller than 376.2 billion yen in red ink a year earlier.
The surplus in the primary income account, which reflects how much
Japan
earns from foreign investments, fell 6.2 percent to
1.33 trillion yen, as a firming yen against the euro reduced interest receipts from euro-denominated bonds, a ministry official said.
In the reporting month, the yen remained almost flat year-on-year at an average 118.25 versus the dollar, but rose 6.5 percent to 128.33 against the European currency.
==Kyodo
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(March 7, 2016 - 11:32 AM EST)
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