{"id":8830,"date":"2025-02-10T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/?p=8830"},"modified":"2025-02-10T11:47:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T16:47:01","slug":"japans-current-account-surplus-hits-record-193-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/?p=8830","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s Current Account Surplus Hits Record $193 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Japan&#8217;s current account surplus<\/strong> soared to a record <strong>29.3 trillion yen ($192.67 billion)<\/strong> in 2024, driven by <strong>strong returns on foreign investments<\/strong> and a narrowing trade deficit, according to <strong>finance ministry data<\/strong> released Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Drivers of the Record Surplus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Primary income surplus:<\/strong> Reached a record <strong>40.2 trillion yen<\/strong>, fueled by Japanese companies expanding overseas and investing in foreign securities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trade deficit shrinks:<\/strong> Down <strong>40%<\/strong> to <strong>3.9 trillion yen<\/strong>, supported by <strong>strong automobile and chipmaking equipment exports<\/strong> and lower energy import costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tourism boost:<\/strong> Travel surplus climbed to <strong>5.9 trillion yen<\/strong>, reflecting a surge in <strong>inbound tourism<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yen Weakness and Overseas Investments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the surplus, <strong>Japan\u2019s currency remains weak<\/strong> as companies reinvest foreign earnings instead of converting them into yen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThere is no reason to repatriate because overseas investments yield higher returns than at home,\u201d said <strong>Takeshi Minami<\/strong>, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trade Surplus Under U.S. Pressure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Japan\u2019s <strong>$68.5 billion trade surplus<\/strong> with the U.S. has drawn attention from <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong>. During <strong>Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba\u2019s<\/strong> first White House visit, Trump urged Japan to <strong>reduce the imbalance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Japan\u2019s record current account surplus highlights its shift from a traditional export-led economy to one driven by <strong>global investments<\/strong>. However, pressure from the U.S. and a persistently weak yen could shape Japan\u2019s economic policies in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japan&#8217;s current account surplus soared to a record 29.3 trillion yen ($192.67 billion) in 2024, driven by strong returns on foreign investments and a narrowing trade deficit, according to finance ministry data released Monday. Key Drivers of the Record Surplus Yen Weakness and Overseas Investments Despite the surplus, Japan\u2019s currency remains weak as companies reinvest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":8831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[92,1035,1031,1037,1038,1036,1032,723,1034,1033],"class_list":{"0":"post-8830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-foreign-investment","10":"tag-japan-current-account","11":"tag-japan-exports","12":"tag-japanese-economy","14":"tag-tourism-growth","15":"tag-trade-surplus","16":"tag-u-s-japan-trade","17":"tag-yen-weakness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8832,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8830\/revisions\/8832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}