Japan’s Trade Surplus May Drop Sharply
Japan may show a surprisingly large drop in its April trade surplus when figures are announced Friday--a few days before the United States is due to report its own trade figures for March, economists say.
A smaller Japanese surplus in April could be a sign of coming declines in the U.S. trade deficit, which has been a major factor in the dollar’s weakness.
The U.S. figures for March are due May 17.
“The April statistics could be astonishing,” a Japanese bank economist said. “We had expected the downtrend for the surplus to slow from increased exports, but the figure could drop more than $2.5 billion.”
The average forecast by economists is a trade surplus of $4.9 billion for April, down from $7.6 billion in the same month last year.
A drop in the surplus would mark the 12th successive monthly fall in Japan’s trade balance.
Economists said the first 20-day trade figures, released on May 1, showed Japan’s trade balance dipped to a $3.23-billion surplus from $4.62 billion a year earlier.
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