Japan trade deficit falls in 2015 on lower oil import costs

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's trade deficit fell to its lowest level in four years in 2015, the Finance Ministry reported Monday, as import costs dropped thanks to the collapse in oil prices.

[...] the prolonged bout of low crude oil prices — normally a boon for a resource-scarce country like Japan which imports almost all of its oil and gas — is hindering progress toward a 2 percent inflation goal meant to mark the end of a long spell of growth-dampening deflation.

"The contraction in the trade deficit will likely continue, as further declines in oil prices have kept the value of imports declining in the double digits," Merrill Lynch said in a commentary.

Analysts said the data raise pressure on Japan's central bank to further ease its already ultra-loose monetary policy, partly to counter recent pressures toward appreciation of the yen, which gained value against the U.S. dollar during the recent bout of gyrations in global financial markets.