Record Japan trade deficit highlights cheap yen woes

TOKYO: Japan's trade deficit swelled to a record in 2013, data showed Monday, as once bumper surpluses disappear under the weight of soaring post-Fukushima energy bills, an imbalance stoked by premier Shinzo Abe's cheap-yen policies.

The currency has lost about a quarter of its value against the dollar since late 2012 owing to a policy blitz dubbed Abenomics, which meshes government spending with massive central bank monetary easing – a plan aimed at reviving the world's third-largest economy.