Record Primary Income Lifts Japan's May Surplus To $18 Billion

Japan's current account surplus expanded 41.8% from a year earlier to 2.85 trillion yen ($18 billion) in May, buoyed by its largest-ever returns on foreign investments on the back of higher foreign bond yields and a falling yen, the Finance Ministry said, Kyodo News reported.

The surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of global trade, was the biggest for May. I Photo: Rs1421 Wikimedia Commons

The surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of global trade, was the biggest for May. Of the total, Japan's primary income surplus, including dividends and interest earnings, rose 13% to a record 4.21 trillion yen.

Japan had a 1.11-trillion yen trade deficit as the weaker yen inflated the cost of imports for the resource-scarce nation, offsetting continued growth in exports.

Imports grew 9.3% to 9.24 trillion yen, while exports rose 12.1% to 8.13 trillion yen. The yen was weaker against both the US dollar and euro, down 13.7% and 13.3% from a year earlier, respectively.