Japan's current account surplus rose 38.9 percent in October from a year earlier to 1.259 trillion yen, logging its fourth straight monthly rise.
A Finance Ministry official said Wednesday that the expansion underscored brisk exports and a continued decline in overseas tourism following the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome and the war in Iraq earlier this year.
The current account balance -- the broadest gauge of trade in goods and services -- is calculated by determining the difference between income from foreign sources and payments on foreign obligations, excluding net capital investment.