Japan's current account surplus shrank in the first half of 1995 by 10.3% over year-ago levels to 61.3 billion dollars, according to balance of payments statistics released by the Ministry of Finance.
The decline is the second straight on a semiannual basis, a drop being registered in the second half of 1994 as well.
One of the biggest factors behind the decrease is the yen's steep appreciation that began in early 1995, causing imports to grow much faster than exports. This led to the first semiannual decline Japan's surplus in "visible" trade since the second half of 1990 and a swelling of Japan's deficit in "invisible" trade, such as services.
Exports in the first half of 1995 totaled 213.9 billion dollars, a jump of 17.6% over year-ago levels, due to greater shipments of semiconductors and other electronic components, metal-processed machinery, and optical equipment.
Imports, meanwhile, rose to 142.4 billion dollars, an increase of 29.1%. Major growth items included personal computers and other office equipment and such electronic components as semiconductors. Automobiles, in particular, jumped by 59.6%. A record 57.7% of Japan's total imports were manufactured products.
Japan's trade surplus, consequently, declined by 0.2% to 71.5 billion dollars.
The deficit in invisible trade swelled to 5.7 billion dollars as the stronger yen caused the travel and transport balances to register record high deficits of 15.5 billion dollars and 7.7 billion dollars, respectively. The burgeoning red ink in invisible trade contributed significantly to lowering Japan's current account surplus.
In yen terms, the current account surplus tumbled to 5.5 trillion yen, a drop of 23.6% from year ago levels, marking the fourth consecutive decrease on a semiannual basis.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)