Japan's Imports Hit Record High In April On Rising Energy Costs, Yen's Drop

Japan's import costs hit a record high in April owing to rising energy costs and the yen's depreciation, the government said in a report on Thursday

TOKYO, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2022 ) --:Japan's import costs hit a record high in April owing to rising energy costs and the yen's depreciation, the government said in a report on Thursday.

According to the finance ministry, the record high import costs led to Japan booking a goods trade deficit of 839.2 billion Yen (6.52 billion U.S. Dollars) in the recording period.

From a year earlier, the country's imports climbed 28.2 percent to 8.92 trillion yen (69.34 billion U.S. dollars), which marked the highest since January 1979 when comparable data became available.

The ministry's data also showed that Japan booked a trade deficit for a ninth straight month in April, which was the longest run of red ink since February 2015 when Japan's deficit ran for 32 consecutive months.

Import costs have surged for resource-poor Japan amid growing demand as the country emerges from the economic downside effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, punctuated by supply constraints as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.