Japan trade gap swells to $109B

TOKYO: Japan’s trade deficit swelled to a record $109 billion in 2014, data showed on Monday, mostly because of huge post-Fukushima energy bills, but analysts said a recent drop in oil prices would shrink the yawning gap.

The shortfall of 12.78 trillion yen, Japan’s fourth-consecutive annual deficit, was 11.4 percent wider than 2013 and was the worst since records began in 1979, according to the finance ministry.