Japan’s Sept imports jump 45.9% y-o-y to record: MOF

JAPAN’S imports rose 45.9 per cent in September from a year earlier to the highest on record, Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday.

That compared with a 45.0 per cent increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll and followed a 49.9 per cent gain in August.

Exports rose 28.9 per cent in the year to September, versus the median estimate for a 27.1 per cent increase.

The trade balance came to a deficit of 2.094 trillion yen (S$19.92 billion), versus the median estimate for a 2.167 trillion yen deficit. REUTERS