Japan's trade surplus dived 31.5% in May<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): Japan's trade surplus slid 31.5 percent in May,
\nits heaviest fall in three years, as exports tumbled, the finance
\nministry said Monday.<\/p>\n
The trade surplus, which measures the balance between imports
\nand exports, fell to 834.3 billion yen (US$7.0 billion), falling
\nfor the second straight month.<\/p>\n
Exports in May dropped 11.8 percent to 3,565 billion yen,
\npushed down by a surge in the value of the yen and a sharp fall
\nin office equipment and ship exports.<\/p>\n
Exports to Europe were particularly badly hit, which analysts
\nsaid signaled a slowdown across the European Union.<\/p>\n
Japan's imports in the month were down a modest 3.3 percent to
\n2,730.7 billion yen, in part due to a heavy fall in aircraft and
\nliquor imports.<\/p>\n
\"We have long said the upward trend in the trade surplus will
\nbe curbed gradually,\" a ministry official said.<\/p>\n
But Japan's politically sensitive trade surplus with the
\nUnited States climbed 14.9 percent to 522.0 billion yen.<\/p>\n
Exports to the United States were down 6.6 percent to 1,113.8
\nbillion yen while imports fell a steep 19.9 percent to 591.9
\nbillion yen.<\/p>\n
Analysts pointed to weak exports to Europe as the key driver
\nfor the month's figures.<\/p>\n
\"The fall in exports was steeper than that in imports, and
\nparticularly we saw a decline in EU-bound shipments,\" said Satoru
\nOgasawara, economist at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo.
\nThe surplus with the European Union dropped 33.3 percent to 262.4
\nbillion yen in May as exports sagged 17.5 percent to 634.2
\nbillion yen with imports slipping 0.9 percent to 371.8 billion
\nyen.<\/p>\n
\"Compared with last year's robust economic growth in Europe,
\nthe export fall showed that the economy in Europe has started to
\nslow down,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The yen has risen against the dollar, and that is another
\nreason for pressuring exports this month.\"<\/p>\n
The rising yen has been a growing concern for Japanese
\nleaders, who fear it will suffocate the nation's exporters and
\nclose off a key route for recovery for the world' second largest
\neconomy.<\/p>\n
Japan's central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market
\nMonday, for the fourth time in less than two weeks, to buy
\ndollars and force down the yen.<\/p>\n
There were signs of the start of a recovery in demand, said
\nKoichi Ono, economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago Tokyo stunned economists by announcing gross
\ndomestic product grew at a powerful 7.9 percent annualized rate
\nin the three months to March.<\/p>\n
\"As the previous GDP showed stunning economic growth, we can
\nsay domestic demand has started to recover slightly,\" Ono said.<\/p>\n
Japan's jobless rate is stuck at a record high 4.8 percent and
\ntalk in Tokyo has turned to the need for a new stimulus spending
\npackage later this year to keep demand alive.<\/p>\n
Japan's trade surplus with the rest of the Asia tumbled 43.9
\npercent to 228.4 billion yen in the month.<\/p>",
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