Japan had a current account surplus of 2.278 trillion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday - down 29.6 percent on year.
That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 2.947 trillion yen and up from 2.197 trillion yen in February.
Imports were up 7.1 percent on year at 9.242 trillion yen, while exports rose 3.6 percent to 8.788 trillion yen for a trade deficit of 454.4 billion yen.
The capital account saw a deficit of 67.4 billion yen in March, while the financial account had a surplus of 2.191 trillion yen.
