By DPA,
Tokyo : Japan logged the largest trade deficit on record in January as the global recession slowed exports, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
The nation’s trade deficit totalled 952.6 billion yen ($9.97 billion) in January.
The trade balance showed a deficit for four months in a row, and the largest since the government began taking the data in January 1979.
In January, exports fell 45.7 percent to 3.48 trillion yen from the previous year, and imports dropped 31.7 percent to 4.44 trillion yen, the ministry said.
With the US, Japan’s surplus shrank 75.3 percent to 132.8 billion yen. Exports fell by 52.9 percent to 571.7 billion yen, and imports from the country by 35 percent to 438.9 billion yen.
With China, Japan’s trade deficit expanded to 562.7 billion yen from 350.1 billion yen. Exports tumbled 45.1 percent to 512.1 billion yen, while imports dropped 16.2 percent to 1.07 trillion yen, the ministry said.