Mubasher: Trade balance surplus between Kuwait and Japan narrowed by 12.9% in February 2020 to JPY 39.5 billion ($369 million), Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Wednesday citing data issued by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
The decline in surplus is the first in three months and is attributed to weak exports.
However, Kuwait continued to record a trade surplus with Japan for 12 years and one month as exports outpaced imports by a big margin.
Kuwait’s exports to Japan amounted to JPY 55.4 billion ($518 million) last month, down by 11.7% on an annual basis, registering the first decrease in three months.
Moreover, imports from Japan slid by 8.7% to JPY 15.9 billion ($149 million), posting the first decline in four months.
At the level of the Middle East, the trade surplus with Japan retreated by 5.6% to JPY 485.3 billion ($4.5 billion), hammered by lower imports from the region by 2.8% compared to the year-ago period.
Japan’s imports from the Middle East, including crude oil, refined products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and other natural resources that account for 95.8% of the region’s total exports to Japan, declined by 2.8%.
In contrast, Japan’s exports to the region grew by 4.9%, thanks to strong demand for automobiles, steel, machinery, and electric equipment.
