The current account surplus rose in the first six months of fiscal 2013, the first surge in six half-year periods, as growth in direct investment income outweighed a trade deficit triggered by a surge in fossil fuel imports, government data showed Monday.
The surplus in the balance of international payments, one of the widest gauges of trade for a country, climbed 10.7 percent from a year earlier to ¥3.0548 trillion in the April-September period, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
The goods trade balance came to a deficit of ¥4.6664 trillion during the six months, the largest for any half-year period since comparable data became available in 1985, as a weaker yen continued to drive up import costs, it said.