Japan unexpectedly slumped back into a trade deficit for the first time in four months, as soaring energy import bills offset growth in the country's shipments abroad, government data showed Monday. Japan logged a surprise deficit of 203 billion yen ($1.8 billion), the first red ink in four months, according to data from the finance ministry, despite market expectations for a surplus.
"Crude oil prices rebounded while the yen was weaker in the month," Yuichiro Nagai, economist at Barclays Capital, told AFP. The yen was 2.3 percent weaker against the dollar compared with levels recorded a year earlier, which helped push up imports costs. The deficit came as a surprise after recent data showed Japan's economy was picking up steam with exports growing on the back of a global economic recovery.
Overall exports in May rose 14.9 percent from a year earlier to 5.85 trillion yen thanks to an increase in shipments of cars and steel, chalking up growth for the sixth consecutive month. The trade deficit with China shrank 22.4 percent to 311.8 billion yen as exports grew 23.9 percent.
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