Japan's exports expand faster than expected in November
Workers walk in a container area at a port in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan 25, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Toru Hanai)
TOKYO: Japan's exports rose for a second straight month in November, data showed on Wednesday (Dec 18), indicating strong global demand that businesses worry could be undermined by protectionist US trade policies.
The solid data, released just a day before the Bank of Japan's policy decision, supports the central bank's plans to gradually raise interest rates from near-zero levels.
Total exports rose 3.8 per cent year-on-year in November, more than a median market forecast for a 2.8 per cent increase and following a 3.1 per cent rise in October.
Exports to China, Japan's biggest trading partner, rose 4.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, while those to the United States were down 8 per cent, the data showed.
Imports dropped 3.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, compared with market forecasts for a 1 per cent increase.
As a result, Japan ran a trade deficit of ¥117.6 billion (US$766.17 million) in November, compared with the forecast of a deficit of ¥688.9 billion.
The outlook for exports is increasingly uncertain.
Nearly three-quarters of Japanese companies expect Donald Trump's next term as US president to have a negative impact on their business environment, a Reuters survey showed.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said the bank will keep raising rates if the economy and prices move in line with projections.
However, sources have told Reuters the central bank is leaning toward keeping interest rates steady this week as policymakers prefer to spend more time scrutinising overseas risks.
