These represent the flow of foreign aid from Japan. As the country supplied more foreign aid, the deficit in this account rose from US$1.5 billion in 1980 to US$5.4 billion in 1990 and more than doubled to US$17.6 billion in 1991. Adding net exports of services and net transfers to the merchandise trade balance, with imports measured free on board (f.o.b.), rather than as customs, insurance, and freight (c.i.f.), gives the balance on current account. Movements in Japan's current account balance have generally mirrored those of the merchandise trade balance considered earlier, although deficits in services and net transfers have offset the surpluses somewhat. Japan began to register surpluses in the current account in 1965, which later continued to rise, although they were punctuated by short-term deficits following the two oil price hikes in 1973 and 1979 (cf. 1973 oil crisis and 1979 energy crisis). During the 1980s, Japan's current account balance shot from a record deficit of US$10.7 billion in 1980 to a record surplus of US$87 billion in 1987 before declining to US$57.1 billion in 1989. As a share of GNP, this surplus reached a peak of 4.4 percent in 1985, a large value for a current account surplus. The appreciation of the yen against the United States dollar and other currencies, beginning in 1985, was slow to have any impact on the dollar value of the current account surplus, although it did decline by US$8 billion in 1988. References Economic history of Japan Cold War history of Japan Government of Japan 20th-century economic history Foreign trade of Japan Foreign relations of Post-war Japan