The current account surplus fell at a record pace in fiscal 2008, hit by plunging exports amid the global recession, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
The surplus was down 50.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥12.23 trillion, shrinking for the first time in seven years, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
The decline is the largest since the ministry started releasing balance of payments figures under the current format in 1985.