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TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Japan's current account surplus rose 3.0 percent in February from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed on Friday, below a median market forecast for a 7.1 percent increase.
The surplus stood at 1.6410 trillion yen ($19.31 billion) , against a median forecast for 1.7066 trillion yen.
Economists are projecting that the nation's account surplus will shrink in coming months as exports slow after a devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami partially disrupted supply chains and production, while imports of fuel and raw materials would increase to meet demands for reconstruction.
Following are details of the current account balance; economists' median forecast is in parentheses:
(Unadjusted, billion yen)
FEB JAN YR BEFORE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current account
balance +1,641.0(+1,706.6) +461.9 +1,593.3 Trade balance +723.3 -394.5 +785.3 Income balance +1,137.9 +1,013.7 +961.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the full tables, see the MOF's website of at: http://www.mof.go.jp/international_policy/reference/balance_of_payments/preliminary/bp1102.pdf ($1 = 84.960 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko)
Japan Feb current account surplus up 3.0 pct y/y
