BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Chart 2 Trade balance of Japan Ratio to nominal GDP  What does the Japanese experience tell us? First, how effective were exchange rate adjustments and other macroeconomic policies in reducing current account imbalances?
They surely helped in bringing about a reduction in the trade surplus as part of cyclical dynamics, and thus a decrease of the current account surplus. However, aside from cyclical components, underlying current account trends were little changed. The attempt to make further adjustments through macroeconomic policies, especially through prolonged accommodative fiscal and monetary policy was unsuccessful.