"A weak currency will cause a permanent surplus in the long run"
- Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Japan Macro Advisors
Japan posted its first current account surplus in four month in February, reflecting an improving outlook for an economic recovery in the world's third largest economy due to a depreciating Yen and unorthodox monetary-policy measures implemented by the BoJ. The surplus was 637.4 billion yen, according to the Ministry of Finance's data on Monday. The monthly surplus halved from 1.2 trillion yen surplus in the previous year, while reversed the deficit of 364.8 billion yen in January.
"It's likely that the yen will depreciate further given the BOJ's unprecedented easing," said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. "If the yen weakens too much, that could turn out to be problematic."
"A weak currency will cause a permanent surplus in the long run," Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Japan Macro Advisors in Tokyo, said before the report. "After demand adjusts to the new currency level, the export volume will rise and the import volume will drop."
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