- July trade balance in at Y -1024.0bn (vs. expected deficit of 773.5bn yen, & prior result a deficit of 180.8bn yen). This is the thrid largest trade deficit on record, and marks the 13th consecutive month of deficits
- July ‘adjusted’ balance in at Y -944.0bn (vs. expected at -741.3bn, and prior of -663.2bn, revised from -568.7bn yen)
- July exports +12.2% y/y (vs. expected +12.8% and prior was +7.4%)
- July imports +19.6% y/y (vs. expected +16.0%, prior +11.8%)
Japan’s Ministry of Finance reports that July imports posted their fastest annual increase since June of 2010, while exports their fastest annual growth since December 2010.
USD/JPY is pretty much unchanged after the Japanese data. The deficit has grown with imports up much more than expected (most likely mainly related to oil & fuel imports), while exports were up but not as much as expected.
