TOKYO, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Japan's current account surplus rose 65.1 percent in March from a year before, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Thursday.

Japan's March current account widened its surplus to 2.534 trillion yen (27.2 billion U.S. dollars) from a 1.535 trillion yen (16.60 billion U.S. dollars) surplus a year earlier, the ministry said. March's figures beat economists' expectations.

Additionally, the figure for the whole of fiscal 2009 climbed 26.9 percent, according to the MOF.

The current account balance is nation's way of measuring trade in goods and services and is generally the difference between a nation's exports of goods and services and its imports of goods and services.

Positive net sales abroad generally contributes to a current account surplus.