Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus for the first half of 1997 rose for the first time on a half-year basis since January-June 1993, according to provisional figures released July 17 by the Finance Ministry.

The figure was up 28.4 percent from the same period last year, hitting 3.982 trillion yen, and was mainly attributed to the sharp rise during the April-June quarter, which saw a 94.3 percent increase from the same period the year before. The politically sensitive surplus with the United States rose 48 percent for the January-June period.

Finance Ministry officials said the half-year growth was brought on by, among other factors, a weaker yen. The ministry said it calculated the average foreign exchange rate for the January-June period at 120.41 yen to the dollar, compared with 106.16 yen a year earlier. The ministry said the effects of April's 2 percentage point hike in the consumption tax was also a factor.

An official said the tax hike affected auto and clothing imports, and prices of imported oil fell after the January-March months. This reduced growth in imports for the April-June quarter to single-digit figures, where it had seen double-digit growth in January to March.

Ministry officials declined to predict how long the tax hike would continue to affect trade figures. They said they need to keep monitoring further developments to see whether significant growth in the surplus would continue.