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Japan's trade surplus declines in March |
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News |
April 25, 2000
TOKYO, APR 24 (AP) - Japan's trade surplus with the world fell nearly 15 percent in March, the government said Monday, as higher oil prices and a recovering economy boosted imports.
The politically sensitive surplus with the United States, however, rose as exports of Japanese fiber cable and automobiles surged and imports of U.S.-made goods dropped.
The merchandise trade surplus, the measure of all goods exported minus those imported, shrank 14.8 percent to 1.11 trillion yen (dlrs 10.57 billion) in March, the Ministry of Finance said. The surplus was unadjusted for seasonal factors.
Over the whole of fiscal year 1999, ended March 31st, the trade surplus shrank 13.9 percent year-over-year to 12.1 trillion yen (dlrs 115.2 billion), marking the first contraction for three years. During the January-March period the overall trade balance declined a preliminary 5.9 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Economists attributed the March decline - which came after the surplus expanded for the first time in 11 straight months in February - to increasing demand for imports in Japan and the rise in oil prices.
"Import growth was more buoyant than expected," said Richard Jerram, an economist at ING Barings Securities in Tokyo. "This is partly due to oil prices, but it suggests the domestic economy is sucking in imports as it picks up."
Japan is fighting to emerge from its worst economic downturn in 50 years. The government has been under heavy pressure from the United States and other trading partners to rein in the surplus by bolstering its weak economy to spark demand for imports.
For March, the value of imports rose 19.5 percent, led by a 126.3 percent increase in the price of crude oil imports. Exports gained 9.1 percent, led by shipments of semiconductors and optical instruments.
That did not make much of an impact on the surplus with the United States. Japan's surplus with its major trading partner jumped 26.3 percent to 690.4 billion yen (dlrs 6.58 billion) during the same period.
Exports to the U.S. grew 7.4 percent in yen terms, for the second straight month of increases, led by a surge in fiber cable sales and a 4.5 percent rise in automobile exports, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, imports from the United States fell 6.8 percent for the third consecutive month of decline. The main factor behind the fall was a 82.0 percent tumble in imports of aircraft equipment compared to the year earlier, the ministry said.
The ministry expects the overall trade surplus to continue to narrow at a modest pace over the coming months due to a combination of the stronger yen, high oil prices and strong global demand for Japan's exports.
The overall surplus was smaller than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei News predicted it would come in at 1.303 trillion yen (dlrs 12.41 billion) in March.
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