| GEO Business | | Japan's 2008 current account surplus falls 34.3% | Updated at: 1542 PST, Monday, February 09, 2009
 TOKYO: Japan’s current account surplus shrank 34.3% in 2008 from the previous year to 16,280.3 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
The balance of trade in goods and services in 2008 posted a surplus of 1,797.3 billion yen, down 81.7%, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
The surplus in merchandise trade lost 67.3% to 4,033.8 billion yen, with exports down 3% to 77,352.2 billion yen and imports up 8.8% to 73,318.4 billion yen. In December alone, the current account surplus fell 92.1% from a year earlier to 125.4 billion yen.
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