Japan Trade Surplus Leaps Nearly 300% During April

TOKYO — Weaker imports helped propel Japan’s trade surplus up almost 300% in April over the same period a year ago, raising fears that its trade disparity with the rest of the world is entering a new period of expansion.

The surplus in Japan’s unadjusted current account, a broad measure of its trade in goods and services, increased to $7.77 billion from a $1.96-billion surplus in April, 1990, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

“The current account won’t grow at the pace it did this month, but we should see a continuing trend toward wider surpluses during the coming months,” said Adrian Tschoegl, economist at SBCI Securities (Asia) Ltd.

The April surplus was the highest since March, 1990, when it was $8.05 billion, but government officials said it was too early to draw conclusions about an overall trend.

“We can’t determine whether the trend toward narrowing surpluses has changed based on this one month’s figure,” said Vice Finance Minister Masami Kogayu, referring to the recent progress made by Japan in cutting its current account surplus.

Economists were divided on how long Japan’s surpluses might continue to grow.

Most agree that Japan’s slowing domestic economy appears likely to depress imports and reduce overseas travel by Japanese tourists for at least several months to come.

But some noted that exports might also slow as the U.S. economy was unlikely to recover quickly from recession and protectionism was showing signs of strength in Europe.

Within the overall current account, the surplus in goods trade climbed to $8.23 billion from $3.98 billion a year earlier.

Exports increased to $23.42 billion from $21.22 billion a year earlier, largely reflecting a stronger yen and steady demand for Japanese goods in Europe and Asia.

The yen’s strength compared to last year has had a double impact on exports. First, a weak Japanese currency six months ago helped increase the volume of goods contracted for then but only now being delivered.

Second, the relatively strong yen is inflating the value of exports when they are figured in dollar terms.

The yen climbed 14% to an average rate of 137.10 to the dollar in April from 158.47 yen a year earlier.

Jesper Koll, chief economist at S. G. Warburg Securities (Japan) Inc., said strong demand for Japanese heavy equipment in Asia and Eastern Europe had helped underpin export strength.

Imports, on the other hand, fell to $15.20 billion from $17.24 billion a year ago.