Japan Posts Record Annual Trade Deficit..

Japan reported a record annual trade deficit last year as energy shipments and weakness in the yen pumped up the nation’s import bill. The shortfall was 11.5 trillion yen ($113 billion), almost double the previous year’s 6.9 trillion yen, a finance ministry report showed in Tokyo today. Imports rose 25 percent in December from a year earlier and exports gained 15 percent, leaving a monthly deficit of 1.3 trillion yen. A record 18 straight monthly deficits show how nuclear plant shutdowns, higher import costs, and limited gains in export volumes are dragging on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to sustain momentum in the world’s third-biggest economy.