Japan posts first current account deficit in nearly 1.5 years

TOKYO — Japan recorded a current account deficit in June for the first time in 17 months, data from the finance ministry showed on Monday (Aug 10), as robust investment in domestic markets from overseas investors boosted the size of dividend payouts.

The deficit in the current account stood at 92.3 billion yen ($$746 million) in June, versus economists' median forecast for a surplus of 1.51 trillion yen in a Reuters poll and against a surplus of 1.28 trillion yen a year earlier.

The net balance for primary income from securities and direct investment, usually the biggest driver of Japan's current account surplus, shrank by 74 per cent to 380 billion yen due to larger dividend payouts from Japanese companies to foreign investors.

Surging oil import costs also led to a trade deficit in June and helped turn the current account into a deficit.

For the first half of this year, however, Japan's current account surplus rose by 22.5 per cent to a record 17.4 trillion yen, thanks to a trade surplus driven by strong exports of semiconductors for AI dater centres.

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