Japan's Jan.-June current account surplus down 63% to 8-year low

Japan's current account surplus shrank 63.1 percent in the first half of 2022 from a year earlier to 3.51 trillion yen ($25.9 billion), the lowest in eight years due to a major goods trade deficit stemming largely from a higher oil price and the weak yen, the Finance Ministry said Monday.The surplus in the current account balance, one of the widest gauges of international trade, fell to the lowest level since it sank into the red in the first half of 2014, according to the ministry's preliminary report.The fall was also the second steepest for a half-year period following the second half of…READ FULL ARTICLE