Japan logs current account surplus for 15th straight month in Sept.

Japan logged a current account surplus for the 15th straight month in September as falling oil prices and a comparatively weak yen lifted overseas income, a government report said Tuesday.

According to the Finance Ministry's preliminary report, the current account stood at 1.47 trillion yen (11.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period, compared to median analysts' expectations for a surplus of 2.15 trillion yen, which would have been the highest since March.

A rise in tourists visiting Japan and the weak yen, combined with reduced energy costs due to falling oil prices, all contributed to the surplus and while primary income fell from 2.05 trillion yen in August to 1.67 billion yen in September, the goods traded component registered a surplus of 82.3 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said.

In the goods and services component, a 37.1 billion yen surplus was booked in the recording month, breaking a three-month run of deficits, the ministry added, while highlighting that exports had grown 8.8 percent from a month earlier.

Japan's current account balance is one of the major gauges of the nature of Japan's foreign trade and when the nation's account is in surplus it increases Japan's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse.

Both government and private payments are included in the calculation. Endit