Japan’s Current-Account Surplus Shrinks as Trade Slumps
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Japan posted a smaller-than-expected current-account surplus in April, highlighting weak global demand that is depressing exports.
The excess in the widest measure of the nation’s trade was 333.8 billion yen ($4.2 billion), the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a surplus of 440.8 billion yen. Gross domestic product in the first quarter grew an annualized 4.7 percent, a separate report showed.