Japan's current account surplus shrinks to 5-year low amid Covid-19

Japan posted its smallest current account surplus in more than five years in June, the Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday, mainly due to a slump in exports, highlighting the heavy hit to external demand from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The current account surplus was 167.5 billion yen ($1.58 billion), the smallest monthly surplus since January 2015, a finance ministry official said. That compared with a median forecast for a 110 billion yen surplus and a 1.177 trillion yen surplus in May.

The current account balance has maintained a run of uninterrupted monthly surpluses for six years. Exports plunged 25.7 per cent in June from a year ago, hit hard by falling shipments of cars and car parts to the US, the data showed.