Current Account Surplus Boosted By Tourism Boom
Japan's current account surplus has grown for the first time in two years in 2019 on the back of strong investment income and a booming tourist trade.
Finance Ministry officials say last year's surplus topped 20 trillion yen, or about 183 billion dollars. That's up by roughly 7.6 billion dollars from the previous year.
They say the primary-income account added most to the surplus. Earnings from overseas investment contributed some 190 billion dollars.
The travel-account surplus marked a record 24 billion dollars, bringing an additional lift.
The services account balance posted a surplus for the first time since 1996, when comparable data became available. The figure of 1.6 billion dollars includes such items as travel-related services and patent payments.
Smaller payments to overseas businesses for R&D and advertising expenses helped boost the service-account balance.
Meanwhile, the trade surplus tumbled by more than half to 5 billion dollars.
Officials cite a drop in China-bound shipments of auto parts, due largely to the trade friction between Beijing and Washington.
