Japan's trade surplus surges five-fold in January on Asian demand

[La_Serpiente]

Japan's trade surplus surges five-fold in January on Asian demand

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's trade surplus in January surged nearly five-fold as exports hit the highest growth rate in 13 months on Asian demand fuelled by the Lunar New Year holidays, said officials and economists.

Japan's surplus snowballed 393.4 percent to 507.1 billion yen (4.7 billion dollars), with exports rising 11.3 percent to 4.28 trillion yen to post the highest growth since December 2002, when they grew 15.3 percent.

Imports edged up 0.8 percent to 3.77 trillion yen in January.

"Exports to China and other Asian countries grew even faster as the Lunar New Year was in January this year," said Junichi Makino, senior economist at Daiwa Institute of Research.

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Japan's trade surplus surges five-fold in January on Asian demand