April 23, 1999
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| April 23, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Japan Economy Japan's March trade surplus widens more than expected Tokyo - Japan's merchandise trade surplus widened in March as exports rose and imports declined, Ministry of Finance figures showed. The trade surplus rose 31 percent to a seasonally adjusted 1.1246 trillion yen ($9.47 billion) in March after narrowing to 858 billion yen in February. March's surplus is wider than the average surplus of 1.0395 trillion yen forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Not adjusted for seasons, the March surplus widened 7.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.339 trillion yen. Exports rose 6.4 percent in March from February while imports fell 1.2 percent from a month earlier. The Ministry of Finance doesn't say which products led exports and imports. The government does say that imports fell 11.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.97 trillion yen, led by a drop in shipments of aircraft, crude oil and clothing. Exports fell 6.2 percent to 4.31 trillion yen, reflecting purchases of steel, computers and automobiles from abroad. The surplus with the U.S., Japan's largest trading partner, expanded 21 percent from a year earlier. The excess with the European Union shrank 6.3 percent and the surplus with Asia narrowed 9.8 percent. For the year ended March, the surplus widened 23.1 percent after expanding 79.7 percent the year earlier. (Bloomberg) | |||||||||
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