Japan records trade surplus for 3rd straight month in April
be able to plug in and run with it by July 1 is very far fetched,” said Dinesh Kanabar, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Dhruva Advisors LLP and former deputy CEO of KPMG India.
Still, lower-than-expected rates meant there might be little or only mild inflation, less than in other countries that had implemented TOKYO: Japan posted a trade surplus for the third straight month last month helped by a further rise in exports, including to the United States, official data showed yesterday.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to root out “unfair” trade practices around the world and target countries, including Japan, that contribute to nearly US$50 billion (RM216.5 billion) monthly trade deficit.
Last month, Japan logged a trade surplus in goods of 481.7 billion yen (RM18.62 billion), said the Finance Ministry, marking the third straight month in the black.
Overall exports rose 7.5 per cent while imports jumped 15.1 per cent on the back of growing domestic demand.
Japan said last week its economy — the world’s third largest — grew 0.5 per cent in the first three months of this year, its longest expansion in more than a decade.
“The trend — strong figures in both exports and imports — is likely to continue for now,” said Japan Research Institute economist Yusuke Shimoda. AFP GST, he added.
There “was an expectation that the government would jack up the rates from the effective rates, which could lead to a huge amount of inflation”, said Dinesh. “What we see today is very different. The rates are moderate. And in most cases, the rates are consistent or lower.” Bloomberg