Japan Trade Deficit Widens as Fossil Fuel Imports Surge: Economy
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Japan posted its biggest October trade deficit on record, as a revival in exports to the U.S. and China was overwhelmed by the nation’s soaring costs for imported fuel in the wake of the nuclear industry’s shutdown.
The shortfall of 1.09 trillion yen ($10.9 billion) extended a record run of deficits to 16 months, and was larger than all 28 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, a finance ministry report showed today in Tokyo. Imports climbed 26.1 percent from a year earlier, while exports gained 18.6 percent.