Japan trade returns to a deficit in January

JAPAN logged its first trade deficit in five months in January, official data showed yesterday, as higher energy prices overwhelmed slower growth in exports due to the lunar new year. The country routinely falls into deficit in January due to the celebrations in key trade partners such as China, which sees an extended holiday. But Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co in Tokyo, said that the export weakness would not last. “Exports are still on the recovery track,” he told Bloomberg. “The global economy is steadily recovering.”