Japan posts first deficit since '96

Japan posted its first current-account deficit in 13 years in January after exports collapsed amid the global recession.

The deficit stood at 172.8 billion yen ($1.8 billion), the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo yesterday. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a gap of 15.3 billion yen. It was the biggest shortfall since January 1985, the earliest year for which there is comparable data.

Companies from Toyota Motor Corp to Sharp Corp are cutting output and firing workers as overseas shipments slump at an unprecedented pace, pushing Japan toward its worst postwar recession.