GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Japan has announced its first trade deficit since 1980, Y2.49tn ($32bn), with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda saying it will take until 2014 for a turn-around. Analysts, according to the financial press, are gloomier about Japan’s short- to mid-term prospects for avoiding a current account surplus. The savings rate in the country has been falling, fuel costs have risen sharply in the past year and the trade balance has been hurt as well by a combination of the broader impact of the major earthquake at the start of 2011, floods in Thailand which have pushed down exports, and a trade deficit with China that is five times higher than in 2010.

Japan has historically had large trade surpluses.

Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Financial Times, RTE

Japan’s trade surplus reached 521 billion yen in September, about 472 percent more than a year ago, but it still disappointed analysts. Exports were down 30.7 percent compared to a year earlier, but in August that figure reached 36 percent, according to figures released by the Japanese Finance Ministry Thursday 22 October.

The Japanese yen has increased in value against all major currencies this year, making Japanese goods more expensive for foreigners.

Imports were down almost 37 percent in the month, with crude oil imports down 2.4 percent over the year, reflecting depressed demand at home. Bloomberg, Romandie News