Trade deficit smashes record, tops US$22bil

Lacklustre recovery: People looking at the Keihin industrial zone from an observation deck. The record deficit casts a cloud over Japan’s economy, as it struggles for recovery momentum with a new BoJ governor set to take over from Kuroda. — AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s trade deficit has surged to a record in January, as one-off factors including the lunar new year holidays dragged on exports amid a backdrop of a slowing global economy.

The trade gap jumped to 3.5 trillion yen (US$26bil or RM115bil) from 1.45 trillion yen (US$11bil or RM48bil) in December, topping three trillion yen (US$22bil or RM97bil) for the first time in comparable data going back to the late 1970s, the finance ministry reported yesterday.