Tokyo  - Japan's April current account surplus made the largest fall in more than five years due to increasing imports, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The nation's current account surplus narrowed 29.6 per in April to 1.38 trillion yen (12.93 billion dollars), compared to the same month a year before.

The largest decline was recorded in January 2003, when the current account surplus shrank 34.5 per cent.

Goods and services trade shrank 60.3 per cent in April to 199.4 billion yen.

Goods trade fell 38.4 per cent to 634.7 billion yen.

Exports grew 4.9 per cent to 6.6 trillion yen, and imports jumped 13.4 per cent to 5.97 trillion yen.

Services trade recorded a deficit of 435.3 billion yen in April, which narrowed 17.5 per cent from a year earlier.

The income surplus fell 17.2 per cent to 1.3 trillion yen.

The current account balance, which is considered the broadest gauge of trade, shows the gap between a nation's income from foreign sources and foreign obligations payable, excluding net capital investment. (dpa)