Account Surplus Falls 28.4% in March

Japan’s current account surplus fell 28.4% to $8.3 billion in March from the month before, the seventh contraction in 10 months, as Asian countries bought fewer machines and materials for manufacturing, the Finance Ministry said. The decline is less than the 30.8% drop economists had forecast. Exports fell 1% and imports rose 6.4% from the month before. From March 1997, the surplus expanded 43.8%, less than the 55.4% economists had forecast. The devaluations of currencies in the region last year made it too expensive for a number of countries to buy Japan’s machinery.