WORLD
Japan logs record trade deficit in 2013
Baku, January 27 (AZERTAC). Japan`s trade deficit surged to a record 11.47 trillion yen ($112 billion) in 2013 as the shutdown of nuclear power plants swelled the nation`s energy import bill.
Provisional data Monday showed that exports rose 9.5 percent to 69.8 trillion yen ($680.9 billion), while imports jumped 15 percent to 81.3 trillion yen ($793.2 billion).
Japan`s trade deficit in 2012 was 6.94 trillion yen. The deficit has been rising as costs for imports have surged with the weakening of the Japanese yen and increased purchases of foreign oil and gas. Japan`s nuclear reactors have been offline for safety and regulatory checks after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The largest shortfall, 13.2 trillion yen ($128.8 billion), was with the Middle East, source of the largest share of resource-scarce Japan`s imports of oil and gas.
Apart from energy imports, Japanese manufacturers increasingly are relying on overseas sources for components for electronics and other products. The recovery in exports so far has failed to offset those costs and Japanese consumers are paying sharply higher prices for fuel and food.
Japan`s deficit with China, its biggest trading partner, rose more than 43 percent in 2013 to 5.02 trillion yen ($49 billion). With the U.S., it logged a surplus of 6.1 trillion yen ($59.5 billion), up nearly 20 percent from a year earlier.
December`s deficit was 1.3 trillion yen ($12.7 billion), the fourth straight month of increase.
Japan`s economy emerged from recession a year ago and has been gaining momentum, spurred by strong government spending and monetary stimulus. That has also pushed demand for imports higher, a trend likely to continue at least until a 3 percentage point increase in consumption tax to 8 percent takes effect in April, said Marcel Thieliant, an economist for Capital Economics in Singapore.
The worse-than-expected trade data coincided with a flurry of selling on Tokyo`s stock exchange, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 2.8 percent. The index dropped below 15,000 for the first time in two months following last week`s selloffs in Europe and the U.S. By midday the Nikkei was down 2.2 percent at 15,061.27.