TOKYO: Japan’s trade deficit plunged nearly 60 percent in January from a year before as exports rose and its import bill for oil and gas dropped thanks to sharply lower crude oil prices.
The deficit of 1.18 trillion yen ($9.9 billion) was better than some forecasts.
Exports surged a stronger-than-expected 17 percent from the year before to 6.1 trillion yen ($51.7 billion), powered by strong shipments of vehicles and machinery. Imports fell 9 percent to 7.32 trillion yen ($61.6 billion), with a nearly 25 percent drop in imports of oil and gas.
Costs for imports of other commodities have also fallen, both due to lower demand and slumping prices.
The deficit was nearly 2.8 trillion yen in January 2014.
Japan’s long era of trade surpluses ended after its nuclear plants were shut down following the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in 2011 and imports of oil and gas jumped to make up for lost generating capacity. January was the 31st straight month of deficits.
Strong monetary stimulus aimed at spurring inflation has caused the Japanese yen to fall, as the US dollar has gained strength. But until recently the weaker yen had increased production costs but done little to boost exports by Japanese manufacturers, who have shifted a large share of their production overseas.
Stronger growth in the US and other major markets appears to have been a larger factor in the export recovery.
Japan logged double-digit increases in exports of machinery, electronics and vehicles in January. That contributed to improved manufacturing output, which helped the economy hobble out of recession late last year, with a 2.2 percent annualized rate of expansion in October-December.
But economic growth for the year was flat after a sales tax hike in April sapped demand, and overall net exports continued to drag on growth.
Still, a stronger US economy has helped.
Japan’s exports to the US rose 16.5 percent in January while imports fell 1.4 percent, leaving a trade surplus of 545.4 billion yen ($4.6 billion).
But exports to China, whose economy has been slowing, jumped nearly 21 percent from a year earlier, as imports fell almost 7 percent, leaving a trade deficit of 736.4 billion yen ($6.2 billion), down almost 30 percent.
Meanwhile, a strategy of balancing Japan’s trade and investment in China with closer economic ties to the rest of the region is paying off as exports to other East Asian countries and Southeast Asia surge.
Japan trade deficit sinks 58% on lower oil prices
Japan trade deficit sinks 58% on lower oil prices
Existing world order would only disappear through a ‘major war,’ says Aboul Gheit
- Arab League secretary-general calls on member states to preserve it through ‘positive work’
- Aboul Gheit tells WGS that Arab League has so far been successful in maintaining its ‘cohesion and its role on the international stage’ despite tough challenges
DUBAI: The Arab League’s secretary-general warned Tuesday that despite significant developments in the international arena, these “do not change the existing international world order’s essence,” which would only disappear through “a major war.”
Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed the need to preserve the League through positive action, given the external forces seeking to dismantle the Arab system and replace it with either a regional one entirely subject to international influence or one controlled by non-Arab regional powers.
“I would like to call on all AL’s member states to preserve the League, through the biggest form of positive work,” he told a crowded hall during his address at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
Aboul Gheit stated that the Arab League has so far been successful in maintaining its “cohesion and its role on the international stage,” despite the challenges it has faced since 2011.
Addressing a session moderated by Imad Eldin Adeeb, political analyst at Sky News Arabia, the AL’s secretary-general said, “I will return the League to the Arab states intact, unbroken, and which is in itself a great success,” noting that the League has continued to be active and represented on the world stage in various forums, despite multifaceted regional and international circumstances.
He emphasized that preserving the Arab League is a “strategic necessity for protecting Arab interests” and safeguarding independent Arab decision-making amid the rapidly changing international landscape.
On Gaza, he explained that the Arab League had exerted considerable efforts and fully exercised its role in relation to the actions and decisions of Arab states.
“If I were to convene a closed meeting with Arab leaders to offer advice regarding the remaining days of Trump’s presidency, I would advise action and engagement that preserves sovereignty and dignity. This means engaging where we can and postponing and maneuvering where we cannot accept,” said Aboul Gheit.
Speaking on the League’s role in ongoing conflicts in the Arab world, Adeeb asked: “Where is the Arab League’s role? I haven’t seen, for example, the League intervene and play a mediating role. I haven’t seen the League attempt to take a position related to inter-Arab conflicts. I haven’t seen the League try to stop the ongoing bloodshed in Arab conflicts.”
Aboul-Gheit replied that the League addresses all these “conflicts and wounds” through periodic meetings of foreign ministers or summits, issuing resolutions that are always agreed upon after the necessary deliberation.
The real problem, he said, lies in the will of the countries involved in the conflict.
“The Arab League is always constrained in this regard. In other words, any government in a country facing a crisis always rejects direct mediation and has its own perspective. Therefore, given the current circumstances, with foreign interventions, internal situations, and relations between Arab states, it is always preferable for us (the Arab League) to leave the lead to the United Nations — that is, for it to take the initiative while the League operates within that framework,” the secretary-general emphasized.
