Japan Posts First Trade Deficit
Japan has posted its first annual trade deficit in almost three decades.
The finance ministry said on Wednesday that the deficit for the fiscal year that ended in March was $7.35bn.
It also said that total exports fell by 16.4 per cent, while imports declined by 4.1 per cent.
However, Japan posted a slight trade surplus in March despite a sharp plunge in exports from the same period a year earlier.
The March figures are being seen by some analysts as a sign that the recession might have started to ease.
The country's trade surplus for the month was $111m, down from $1.1bn last year.
The result marked a second straight month of surplus, but was worse than the surplus of $835m last month.
The finance ministry said on Wednesday that the deficit for the fiscal year that ended in March was $7.35bn.
It also said that total exports fell by 16.4 per cent, while imports declined by 4.1 per cent.
However, Japan posted a slight trade surplus in March despite a sharp plunge in exports from the same period a year earlier.
The March figures are being seen by some analysts as a sign that the recession might have started to ease.
The country's trade surplus for the month was $111m, down from $1.1bn last year.
The result marked a second straight month of surplus, but was worse than the surplus of $835m last month.
Japan's export-dependent economy has weakened due to declining international demand [EPA]
Foreign market dependence
Japan's heavy dependence on foreign markets has left its economy one of the worst affected by the global economic downturn and, according to analysts, is firmly on course for its worst recession since the second world war.
Shipments to the US and Europe have more than halved as demand for cars and electronics plummeted, while goods sent to China have dropped.
The world's second-largest economy also recorded its worst performance in nearly 35 years in the last quarter of 2008, contracting at an annualised rate of 12.1 per cent.
quoted from: Al Jazeera.Net
