1st LD Writethru: Japan posts current account surplus for 10th straight month but misses expectations

Japan posted a current account surplus for the 10th straight month in April, the finance ministry said in a preliminary report Monday, hitting a five year high as prices for crude oil continued to reduce import costs and the yen' s decline augmented overseas profits.

The current account surplus declined in April from a month earlier however to 1.326.4 billion yen (10.56 billion U.S. dollars) , and came in below median analysts' expectations.

The data showed that exports rose 4.1 percent on year to 6,229 billion yen, owing to improvements in overseas' economies, but the figure was down from a 9.8 percent increase logged a month earlier.

Imports, meanwhile, fell an annual 5.9 percent to 6,374.9 billion yen after falling 15.8 percent in March.

The primary income account expanded by 19.1 percent to 2,197.1 billion yen, as Japan's income from overseas grew owing to the yen 's recent decline against its major counterparts.

Prices for crude oil imports continued to decline, falling 34.6 percent in April, contributing to a decline in overall import costs, the finance ministry said, adding that the yen's decline versus the U.S. dollar by 16.6 percent on year to an average of 119.55 yen, was also a major contributor.

In March, Japan posted its biggest current account surplus since 2008 at 2.80 trillion yen (23.3 billion U.S. dollars) before seasonal adjustment, owing to the same factors that contributed to April's surplus, namely the weaker yen, falling oil prices, increased investment from overseas and a drop in import costs.

Japan hasn't regularly posted a current account surplus in excess of 2 trillion yen since the global financial crisis and leading economists have said that the balance is likely to stay in the black in the foreseeable future.

Japan's current account surplus is one of the broadest measure of its trade with the rest of the world and the data is keenly eyed by the Bank of Japan and the finance ministry ahead of new potential policy changes or monetary easing or tapering measures. In Japan the current account surplus increases the nation's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse. Both the Japanese government and private payments are included in the calculation and it is called the current account because goods and services are generally consumed in the current period. Endi