TOKYO, March 16 (Xinhua) — Japan logged a commerce deficit of 897.7 billion yen (6.73 billion U.S. {dollars}) in February, owing to hovering import prices additional inflated by a weak yen, the federal government mentioned in a report on Thursday.
According to the Finance Ministry, the nation’s imports elevated 8.3 % from a 12 months earlier to eight.55 trillion yen (64.14 billion {dollars}), a file for February, whereas exports climbed 6.5 % to 7.65 trillion yen (57.42 billion {dollars}), additionally marking a file for February, the ministry’s preliminary knowledge confirmed.
The ministry additionally mentioned Japan reported unfavourable commerce figures for the nineteenth straight month.
A weaker yen continued to inflate the worth of imports, together with coal, liquefied pure gasoline and crude oil, the ministry mentioned, including the Japanese foreign money was 13.5 % decrease than a 12 months earlier relative to the U.S. dollar.
Japan, in the meantime, booked a commerce surplus of 530.5 billion yen (3.97 billion {dollars}) with the United States, owing to an uptick in shipments of automobiles, drugs and equipment.
Exports, for his or her half, leapt 14.9 % to 1.46 trillion yen (10.95 billion {dollars}) and imports rose 6.6 % to 925.6 billion yen (6.94 billion {dollars}), within the recording interval.
With Japan’s main buying and selling accomplice China, the nation’s commerce steadiness got here to a deficit of 209.8 billion yen (1.57 billion {dollars}), the ministry mentioned, owing to marginally extra exports than imports, through the reporting interval.
Imports totaled 1.53 trillion yen (11.48 billion {dollars}), down 0.6 % from a 12 months earlier, whereas exports dropped 10.9 % to 1.32 trillion yen (9.90 billion {dollars}), the ministry mentioned.
Japan in February ran a commerce surplus of 392.3 billion yen (2.94 billion {dollars}) with the remainder of Asia together with China, and booked a 119.7 billion yen (898.87 million {dollars}) deficit with the European Union (EU), the ministry’s knowledge confirmed.