Japan has reported its biggest fiscal year trade deficit ever, a contrast from decades of surpluses on booming exports, as the nuclear crisis brought about by the March 2011 tsunami boosted oil and gas imports.
The finance ministry's preliminary trade data puts Japan's trade deficit for fiscal 2011 at ¥4.41 trillion (£33.6bn) as the nation imported oil and gas to make up for an electricity shortfall.
All but one of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors have been offline since the nuclear crisis sparked in March 2011 by the tsunami in north-eastern Japan.
The central government is eager to restart some of the reactors and has been carrying out safety tests, but local officials have been wary of giving the go-ahead.
The March 2011 disaster also hurt manufacturing, not only in the north-east of the country but for those companies that had counted on supplies from that area. Exports dropped 3.7% from the previous fiscal year while imports climbed 11.6%.
The tsunami destroyed backup generators at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, sending three reactors into meltdown and setting off the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
The latest figures are striking, given Japan's past reputation as a major exporter, when the scale of its surpluses were at times the target of international criticism.
Analysts said that if expensive fuel imports continue, Japanese consumers are likely to face higher utility bills, which could dampen consumer spending and further the economy.
Japan had posted its first trade surplus in five months in February, thanks to a recovery in car and electronics exports to the US, but the figures were back in the red for March, with a ¥82.5 bn deficit.
In fiscal 2010, Japan had a ¥5.3tn trade surplus, up 2.8% from the previous fiscal year. In fiscal 2007, the surplus was nearly double the 2010 figure.
guardian.co.uk
The finance ministry's preliminary trade data puts Japan's trade deficit for fiscal 2011 at ¥4.41 trillion (£33.6bn) as the nation imported oil and gas to make up for an electricity shortfall.
All but one of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors have been offline since the nuclear crisis sparked in March 2011 by the tsunami in north-eastern Japan.
The central government is eager to restart some of the reactors and has been carrying out safety tests, but local officials have been wary of giving the go-ahead.
The March 2011 disaster also hurt manufacturing, not only in the north-east of the country but for those companies that had counted on supplies from that area. Exports dropped 3.7% from the previous fiscal year while imports climbed 11.6%.
The tsunami destroyed backup generators at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, sending three reactors into meltdown and setting off the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
The latest figures are striking, given Japan's past reputation as a major exporter, when the scale of its surpluses were at times the target of international criticism.
Analysts said that if expensive fuel imports continue, Japanese consumers are likely to face higher utility bills, which could dampen consumer spending and further the economy.
Japan had posted its first trade surplus in five months in February, thanks to a recovery in car and electronics exports to the US, but the figures were back in the red for March, with a ¥82.5 bn deficit.
In fiscal 2010, Japan had a ¥5.3tn trade surplus, up 2.8% from the previous fiscal year. In fiscal 2007, the surplus was nearly double the 2010 figure.
guardian.co.uk
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