Japan faces record-long trade deficit

Trade figures due on Thursday are likely to show that Japan produced its 14th consecutive deficit in August.

TOKYO: Japan is on course for its longest run of trade deficits, effectively marking the end of the nation's decades-long reliance on exports from the likes of electronics giant Sony and automaker Toyota as a driver of growth and income.

Trade figures due on Thursday are likely to show that Japan produced its 14th consecutive deficit in August, matching a 1979-1980 record run during the global oil shock.