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Japan's trade deficit nearly doubled in October, as growth in imports outpaced robust increases in exports to the U.S. and China, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday. A weakening in the Japanese yen over the past year has helped exports, but it has also increased the cost in yen terms... This is the importance of looking at **how** payments balance. Though Japan has seen some significant increases in exports, most notably in the vehicle and chemical industries, too much money is still leaving Japan. Part of this may be due to the fact that many Japanese firms depend on foreign manufacturing. The government has plans to revitalize a large manufacturing sector of Japan, but the question now is how quickly and how much will it help?

"Japan's trade deficit nearly doubled on-year to a bigger-than-expected $10.9 billion in October as the country's energy bill soared... " Japan's trade deficit was the biggest in the last 44 years and entered a 16-month trade deficit run. The reason behind this is because of the transfer from energy sources. Until 2010, Japan was the first in using nuclear energy in the world. When the accident in Fukushima happened, Japan had to start using fossil fuels and started importing it increasing their trade deficit.

This shows how the trade deficit is increasing in the UK, which will disturb the equilibrium (Balance of payment).

The article talks about the reasons why countries keep foreign currencies. The main reason why the keep the reserves are to meet the international payment obligations in the long term and in the short term. Furthermore countries keep foreign currencies in order to pay imports or for commercial debts.