Japan's Finance Ministry reported a current-account surplus of 4.06 trillion yen for August, Kyodo said. Trading Economics, citing the ministry, said the surplus beat the market forecast.
Japan posted a current-account surplus of 4.06 trillion yen, about 25 billion dollars, in August, the Finance Ministry said, Kyodo News reported on Thursday. The release landed late on 7 October in GMT terms, which is 8 October in Tokyo.
Trading Economics, citing the ministry, said the surplus was 4,062.0 billion yen, up from 3,628.1 billion yen a year earlier, and above a forecast of about 3,194 billion yen. It said the primary-income surplus rose to 5,133.2 billion yen from 4,222.7 billion yen.
The same compilation said the services deficit narrowed to 115.8 billion yen and the secondary-income deficit shrank to 267.7 billion yen. The goods account swung to a deficit of 687.7 billion yen from a surplus of 113.8 billion yen a year earlier. Exports rose 16.9 percent, helped by AI-related electronics, while imports rose 26.7 percent, partly on crude oil.
Those component figures are from Trading Economics' reading of the ministry release, not a Kyodo breakdown. The headline surplus is the figure both Kyodo and that compilation report.
The data are for August. They are not a forecast for the full year.