Japan's current account surplus fell for the third consecutive year in fiscal 2001.
According to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry, the current account surplus fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier to 11.94 trillion yen.
The third straight fall in the surplus was prompted by a contraction in the merchandise trade surplus -- exports minus imports -- which logged a year-on-year decrease of 22.2 percent to 8.98 trillion yen.