The nation's current account surplus rose for the second month in a row in May as the SARS epidemic trimmed overseas travel, surging 28.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.35 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
The nation's chronic deficit in the balance of services trade shrank to 175.8 billion yen in May -- the lowest level in 17 years -- from 402.5 billion yen a year earlier, reflecting a plunge in the number of Japanese traveling overseas, a ministry official said.
The number of travelers fell from 1,279,000 in May 2002 to 575,000 in the reporting month, a 55.1 percent decrease, as the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic swept across Asia, the official said.