Japan's current account surplus up 61.9% in September

[TOKYO] Japan posted a current account surplus for the third consecutive month in September as a weaker yen helped boost repatriated returns on foreign investment, official data showed Tuesday.

Japan logged a surplus of 963.0 billion yen (US$8.4 billion) in the current account, up 61.9 percent from a year earlier, the finance ministry said.

It was much bigger than a market median forecast of 532 billion yen.

The current account is the broadest measure of the country's trade with the rest of the world, measuring not only trade in goods but also services, tourism and returns on foreign investment.

Japan's deficit in merchandise trade expanded due to higher imports of liquefied natural gas, cellphones and other telecommunications equipment.

But overall income improved with higher gains from equity and other direct investment, as well as from investment in financial items, data showed.

The rise was inflated with a weaker yen, the consequence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pro-spending policy and the Bank of Japan's massive monetary easing.

The Japanese currency was nearly eight percent cheaper against the dollar on the monthly average compared with September 2013.

AFP