Japan's current account surplus logs record low in 2014

Japan's current account surplus was the smallest in 2014 since comparable data became available in 1985, with the trade deficit swelling due mainly to a surge in gas imports and the yen's drop, Japanese government data showed Monday.
The current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, fell 18.8 percent from a year earlier to 2.63 trillion yen ($22.11 billion) last year, with goods trade marking a record deficit of 10.37 trillion yen, the Japanese Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
The current account surplus shrank for the fourth straight year as demand for natural resources grew from utilities bolstering fossil fuel-based power generation as an alternative to stalled nuclear reactors following the March 2011 Fukushima crisis, Japanese News Agency (Kyodo) reported.