Japan posts first current account surplus in 5 months

Gambatte!

So perhaps the negative doomsdayers will shutup now

Here we go. Gov starts fudging economic reports to show that Abe's policies aren't having an impact and thus justifying a further tax increase.

Me too.

A Nikkei article says that this was the lowest February surplus since comparable numbers starting in 1985, but many economists think the full fiscal year balance will manage to scrape through with a surplus.

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDF0800F_Y4A400C1MM0000/

IMO, the yen will have to depreciate far more before companies really have an incentive to bring production back from overseas. Even if they wanted to bring production back, the decline in the size of the workforce still remains as an obstacle. I wonder how far the yen would have to go before a cost-benefit analysis showed a positive result? 200 yen? The only direction for the trade balance is down, and if retirees keep repatriating their overseas investments they won't be generating income to keep the current account in surplus much longer either.

Just having the BOJ buy up all the government debt and the government spending more money on public works is not going to create a sustainable, growing economy any time soon. Abe needs to get a third arrow out of the bow asap if he really wants bring back Japan.

21st straight monthly trade deficit? yeah, nothing to blame to negative doomsdayers.

So, this would have anything to do with the splurge in spending by consumers, both domestic and abroad to get in before the sales tax hike, would it? Let's see what the next report is after the sales tax hike has bitten, shall we?

disillusioned, what would Japanese people spending money abroad have anything to do with Japan's account surplus?

Kickboard - Absolutely nothing, but many foreign companies bought Japanese products ahead of the tax increase, this increasing the surplus.

@disillusioned, you dont know anything of export do you. foreign companies arnt charged the 5/8% consumption tax on goods bought from Japan. only companies and consumers in Japan are charged that. I export for a living and all the goods I buy and export from Japan I get almost all the consumption tax refunded to me each year. thats one reason why exporting is so much better than selling locally. no need to collect consumption taxes for the J Gov since all customers are foreign

"Just having the BOJ buy up all the government debt...."

If a public sector institution is capable of buying "all the gov't debt," then the government isn't actually in debt....Right?

Jeff, the BOJ, if works around the law prohibiting monetization of the debt, could buy all the debt, but Japan would possibly end up with a currency much much lower in value as a result. This basically happened after faith was lost after Japan lost WWII. I'd not risk it.