Japanese Deficit Shrinks in February

Japan’s trade deficit narrowed in February to 800bn yen ($7.9bn) – the lowest level in nine months.

Exports increased by 9.8% and imports showed a sharp slowdown, with a 9% increase in February.

In January the trade gap surged to a record high after imports increased 25%.

Imports had been increasing ahead of a planned tax increase planned for April, as Japanese stocked up on foreign goods.

The Chinese Lunar New Year, which had led to a temporary slowdown in foreign buying, also contributed to the large January figure.

Many analysts believe the imports surge will slow as the planned tax increase goes into effect.

Japan has a run a trade deficit for the past 20 months – a record stretch.

That has been partially due to increasing imports of fossil fuels, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster left the country bereft of its nuclear power base.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza