Japan Trade Deficit At Record

The value of the yen and the need for Japan to import oil and other key commodities, married with lower demand for its exports–probably fueled by near recession level economic condition in Europe–took the Asian nation’s trade deficit to an all time high

According to MarketWatch

Japan’s trade deficit widened in January to 1.382 trillion yen ($17.0 billion), up 245.9% compared to the year-ago period the country’s Ministry of Finance said Thursday. Japan’s current account deficit totaled 437.3 billion yen in the month, larger than the 322.4 billion yen expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. The trade deficit and current account deficit were the largest on record, according to reports.