Japan Aug current account surplus up 22.2 pct yr-on-yr; beats forecast

Japan's current account surplus in August rose 22.2 pct to 1.48 trln yen from 1.21 trln a year earlier, increasing at a bigger rate than the market had estimated after rising 7.1 pct in July. Economists had been expecting a surplus of 1.45 trln yen, the consensus forecast in a Nihon Keizai Shimbun poll. The Ministry of Finance said the trade account registered a surplus of 312.4 bln yen in August, up 36.0 pct from a year earlier, as exports climbed 17.3 pct to 5.83 trln yen while imports rose 16.4 pct to 5.52 trln. The goods and services account posted a surplus of 176.9 bln yen, from a surplus of 35.6 bln a year before. The services account deficit stood at 135.6 bln yen, compared to a deficit of 194.1 bln in the previous year. The capital and financial account, which measures international fund flows, registered an outflow of 700.3 bln yen for the month, against an outflow of 494.7 bln a year before. The current account is the widest measure of a country's financial performance on an international basis because it includes investment flows as well as trade in goods and services.