Japan's current account surplus rose 76.9 percent in November from a year earlier to ¥1.103 trillion, marking the largest expansion since June, due mainly to a steady rise in exports to Asia, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
It was the fourth straight month of improvement on a year-to-year basis. The current account, the broadest gauge of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, stayed in the black for the 10th month running, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
The balance of trade in goods and services posted a surplus of ¥439.5 billion, a turnaround from the ¥142.0 billion deficit a year before.
The surplus in merchandise trade stood at ¥490.6 billion, compared with a ¥92.2 billion deficit a year earlier.
Exports fell 7.0 percent to ¥4.704 trillion for the 14th straight month of decline. That is, however, far better than the double-digit falls that continued for a long period through October amid the global recession.
The decline in imports was bigger, down 18.2 percent to ¥4.214 trillion for the 13th straight monthly shrinkage.
"Japan's current account surplus will most likely continue and expand in the months ahead," Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Shinko Research Institute, said.
"Exports will increase as China and other Asian countries grow further," Miyagawa said.