Japan's current account surplus at record low in H1

Japan's current account surplus for the first half of the fiscal 2014 stood at a record low at 2,023.9 billion yen (about 17.62 billion U.S. dollars) in the period from April to September, the Japanese Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

During the reporting half of the fiscal 2014 that started in April, the surplus in the primary income account rose 1.4 percent from the previous year to 9,148.7 billion yen (about 79.67 billion dollars), the largest for the half fiscal year, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

But the current account surplus weighed down by soaring trade deficit that stood at 4,397.4 billion yen (about 38.3 billion dollars).

Japan's imports grew 6.7 percent from a year earlier to about 353.2 billion dollars against a backdrop of fuel import boost and the yen's falling, while exports rose 5.5 percent to 314.9 billion dollars.

The services sector, including passenger transportation and cargo shipping, also logged a deficit of 15.81 billion dollars.

For September alone, Japan marked a current account surplus for the third straight month, standing at about 8.39 billion dollars.