Japan's August current account surplus down 63.7%

Japan's current account surplus shrank 63.7 percent compared with the same period last year to 161. 5 billion yen (1.66 billion U.S. dollars mainly due to the depreciation of the yen and a growing demand for energy, government data showed Tuesday. The surplus in the balance of international payments, one of the widest gauges of trade for a country, logged a surplus for the seventh straight month, but it was smaller than the 577.3 billion yen surplus in July, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. The goods trade balance logged a deficit of 885.9 billion yen in August, as imports grew 16.4 percent on yearly basis to 6,412.6 billion yen against a backdrop of rising imports of crude oil, while exports climbed 14.1 percent to 5,526.7 billion yen. The income account, which reflects how much Japan earns from its foreign investments, fell for the first time in nine months in August, down 10.0 percent from a year earlier, but still stood at a surplus of 1,253.0 billion yen and offset the trade deficit.