TOKYO -- Economists expect Japan's current-account surplus for this fiscal year to plunge by roughly 75% from two years earlier, a Nikkei survey shows, weighed down by a weak yen and the country's dependence on expensive fossil fuels.
The surplus dipped by 22.3% in fiscal 2021 to a seven-year low of 12.64 trillion yen ($97.1 billion), preliminary data published Thursday by the Finance Ministry shows. This drop, from a surplus of over 16 trillion yen in fiscal 2020, was due largely to a 1.65 trillion yen trade deficit caused by surging energy prices.
