Japan's current account surplus last month fell by more than half from a year earlier as the global economic downturn continued to batter exports, official data showed Monday. The finance ministry said the April surplus dropped by 54.5 percent to 630.5 billion yen (6.39 billion dollars) against a surplus of 1,385.9 billion yen a year earlier, marking the 14th consecutive monthly fall.
However, hopes for recovery remained intact, with other recent data indicating a gradual increase in production as stimulus programmes by various governments kick in to ease the global economic pain, analysts said. A country's current account reflects the net flow of transactions, mainly its balance of trade, with other countries, but also money flows such as interest payments and returns on foreign investments.
Japan's current account surplus was trimmed in April as exports fell 40.6 percent year-on-year to 3,915.1 billion yen, outpacing a 37.8-percent drop in imports, which came to 3,730.8 billion yen, the data showed. The good news for the world's number two economy was that exports fell at a slower pace than in the previous months. In March, exports dropped off 46.5 percent, and in February the fall was 50.4 percent.