REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File PhotoJapan’s exports fell in August for a 11th consecutive month due to the yen strength and sluggish overseas demand, in a sign that an export-reliant economy may struggle to accelerate in the current quarter. Economists polled by the Nikkei and The Wall Street Journal had expected a Y200.0 billion surplus.
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The news could add to pressure on Japan’s central bank to announce fresh monetary policy measures to stimulate growth at a meeting that ends Wednesday.
The Bank of Japan said in a statement Wednesday that its key policy rate will remain at negative 0.1 percent.
“Given the yen’s gains, however, exports would likely struggle to accelerate ahead”, he said.
In August, Japan reported a trade deficit of 18.7 billion yen, whereas the street had expected 191 billion yen in surplus. Exports are called lower by 4.5 percent after plunging 14.0 percent in the previous month. The latest fall extends the longest sequence of on-year declines in exports since the global financial crisis.
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Exports to China in August fell almost 9 percent from a year earlier while exports to the U.S., Japan’s biggest single overseas market dropped 14.5 percent. It was a first trade deficit in three months.
