AFP, Tokyo :
Japan swung back to a trade deficit in April after the first surplus in almost three years in March, but the shortfall shrank drastically year-on-year thanks to stronger exports and lower energy bills, official data showed Monday.
The monthly deficit came in at 53.4 billion yen ($440 million), about one-15th of the 825.5 billion yen posted a year earlier, finance ministry data showed.
Exports rose 8.0 percent year-on-year chiefly on robust shipments of cars, electronics components and machinery as the yen was 17 percent cheaper against the dollar than last year.
Imports dropped 4.2 percent as the cost of oil and gas fell.
By region, US-bound shipments soared 21.4 percent, far outpacing a 2.4 percent increase in exports to China and a 0.8 percent rise in exports to the European Union.
“Japan’s economy will be more robust this year, led by domestic consumption and external demand,” said Yoshitaka Suda, an economist at Nomura Holdings.
“We think that the US economy will continue to recover moderately, helping to boost Japan’s exports,” he told Bloomberg News.
The April data came after a stronger-than-expected economic growth report last week.
Data from the Cabinet Office showed Japan’s economy grew a faster-than-expected 0.6 percent on-quarter in the first three months of 2015 as it crawls back from a brief recession.
Japan swung back to a trade deficit in April after the first surplus in almost three years in March, but the shortfall shrank drastically year-on-year thanks to stronger exports and lower energy bills, official data showed Monday.
The monthly deficit came in at 53.4 billion yen ($440 million), about one-15th of the 825.5 billion yen posted a year earlier, finance ministry data showed.
Exports rose 8.0 percent year-on-year chiefly on robust shipments of cars, electronics components and machinery as the yen was 17 percent cheaper against the dollar than last year.
Imports dropped 4.2 percent as the cost of oil and gas fell.
By region, US-bound shipments soared 21.4 percent, far outpacing a 2.4 percent increase in exports to China and a 0.8 percent rise in exports to the European Union.
“Japan’s economy will be more robust this year, led by domestic consumption and external demand,” said Yoshitaka Suda, an economist at Nomura Holdings.
“We think that the US economy will continue to recover moderately, helping to boost Japan’s exports,” he told Bloomberg News.
The April data came after a stronger-than-expected economic growth report last week.
Data from the Cabinet Office showed Japan’s economy grew a faster-than-expected 0.6 percent on-quarter in the first three months of 2015 as it crawls back from a brief recession.
