Japan logs biggest half-year trade deficit due to energy cost, weak yen

Japan posted its biggest half-year trade deficit of 7.9 trillion yen ($57 billion) in the first half of 2022, inflated by a surge in import costs amid soaring energy prices and the yen's depreciation, government data showed Thursday.Imports jumped 37.9 percent from a year earlier to 53.9 trillion yen on the back of rising crude oil and coal prices propelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the Finance Ministry's preliminary report.Exports rose 15.2 percent to 45.9 trillion yen, also registering a record high for a half-year period since comparable data became available in 1979,…READ FULL ARTICLE