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TOKYO (AP) - Japan's current account surplus contracted 19.5 percent in May from a year earlier, hurt by sluggish exports and an inflated import bill caused by soaring oil prices, the government said Wednesday.
The Finance Ministry said the surplus in the current account — a broad measure of trade, tourism and investment flows — totaled 1.378 trillion yen ($12.41 billion) in May before seasonal adjustments.
The figure, which was better than a 27 percent decline predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei News, shrank 28.2 percent on year in January and 1.5 percent in February and expanded 0.5 percent in March and 5. 2 percent in April.
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