The current account surplus grew 0.2 percent in September from a year earlier to ¥1.568 trillion, expanding for two consecutive months for the first time in more than a year, amid signs that exports are improving, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
The current account stayed in the black for the eighth month running as economic activity picked up around the world on the back of stimulus programs. The last time surplus expanded for two months in a row was January and February 2008.
But for the April-September first half, the surplus in the current account, the broadest gauge of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, shrank 9.7 percent from the same period last year to ¥7.256 trillion. On a six-month basis, the surplus contracted for the third time in row.