Japanese Trade Surplus Figures Rise in November

Japan’s current-account surplus grew during November from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry announced, but officials said they still expect the gap to decline for the full year ending March 31. The Finance Ministry said the surplus in the current account, which measures trade in goods and services, grew to $6.76 billion in November from $5.93 billion a year earlier, the second consecutive monthly rise. The overall trade surplus during the month also rose, to $7.56 billion from $6.69 billion in November, 1987, although imports grew at a faster rate than exports.

The Finance Ministry also announced that Japan’s current-account surplus with the United States in the first six months of this year fell by 12.2%, to $23.7 billion from $26.9 billion in the year-earlier period.

Drop in Oil Imports

The monthly current-account gap had been narrowing steadily since January mainly as a result of a successful attempt by major industrial countries to guide the dollar down in value against the Japanese yen and other key currencies. A stronger yen tends to brake Japanese exports by making them more expensive overseas.

But despite the recent increases, Finance Ministry officials indicated that the surplus was likely to shrink in the fiscal year that ends March 31. They pointed out that imports remain strong due to robust domestic demand and this will serve to hold the gap down.

They traced the November surplus growth partly to a drop in oil imports, due to lower imports volume and declining oil prices.

Exports rose 18.8% to $22.2 billion from $18.6 billion a year earlier, while overall imports surged 22.2% to $14.6 billion from $12 billion in the year-earlier month.

Officials attributed the strong import growth to domestic demand for such products as textiles and nonferrous metals needed to fuel the growing Japanese economy.

The so-called invisible account--which includes transactions in shipping, tourism, banking, insurance and commodities--had a $560-million deficit, down from a $116-million surplus a year earlier.

The deficit partly reflects the increasing number of Japanese traveling overseas because of the strong yen.

Imports Jumped

The six-month current-account report also indicated that during the period Japan’s trade surplus with the United States fell 13.9% to $23.6 billion from $27.4 billion a year earlier.

Exports to the United States rose 4.9% to $41 billion, while imports jumped 49.2% to $17.4 billion.