Current account surplus highest for August

October 10, 2017

TOKYO- Japan's current account surplus rose 20.8 percent from a year before to 2,380.4 billion yen in August, hitting the highest level for the month, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

The growth reflected a jump in the trade surplus backed by brisk exports and a rise in Japanese companies' receipts of dividends from overseas subsidiaries.

The August figure topped the average forecast of a 2,263.2-billion-yen surplus among 20 economic research institutes. Japan's current account balance was in the black for the 38th consecutive month.

In goods trade, Japan posted a surplus for the third straight month, with exports surpassing imports by 318.7 billion yen, an increase of 46.2 percent from the year-before surplus. The trade balance improved for six months in a row.

Exports were up 16.3 percent at 6,165.6 billion yen, thanks to robust shipments of automobiles and semiconductors chiefly to Asia and the United States. Imports were up 15.1 percent at 5,847 billion yen.

In services trade, Japan logged a surplus of 20.2 billion yen, the first black ink in three months.

The turnaround came as the number of foreign visitors to Japan reached 2.47 million in August, the highest for the month, and on the back of an increase in automobile- and medicine-related royalty income from abroad.

The surplus in the primary income account, which includes dividend receipts and investment returns from abroad, expanded 13 percent to 2,238.5 billion yen. Jiji Press