Tokyo, April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's current account surplus widened fora second month in February, as a decline in imports and a rise in exportsswelled the trade surplus. The current account surplus rose to 1.25 trillion yen ($10 billion) seasonallyadjusted in February, from 843.4 billion yen in January, the Ministry ofFinance said. Economists had expected the surplus to rise to 1.18 trillionyen. From a year earlier, the surplus shrank 8.7 percent to 1.35 trillion yen,unadjusted. The current account is the broadest measure of the flow of goods, servicesand money to and from Japan. Economists expect the surplus to fall aseconomic growth in Asia and the U.S. -- Japan's biggest export markets --slows. Much of the increase last month came as the trade balancerebounded after dropping by almost three- quarters in January. ``Exports are expected to slow further in the months ahead while importswill also gradually decline,'' said Tomoko Fujii, a senior economist at NikkoSalomon Smith Barney Ltd. ``The trend of a shrinking surplus will probablycontinue.'' According to today's report, the trade surplus rose 80 percent in Februaryfrom January to 634.7 billion yen. Exports rose 5.7 percent and imports fell6.9 percent. From a year ago, exports rose 1.3 percent and imports gained11.5 percent. The income account surplus, which tracks the flow of dividends and interestpayments in and out of Japan, shrank to 660.1 billion yen. The currenttransfers deficit narrowed to 46.9 billion yen. The services account deficit, which tracks spending on things such as traveland intellectual property rights stood at 412.2 billion yen in February, from481.3 billion yen in January. Crude oil averaged $25.13 a barrel, down 3 percent from a year earlier,according to the ministry. In yen, oil cost 18,428 yen per kiloliter, up 5.6percent from a year ago. The yen averaged 116.04 to the dollar in February, down from 109.34 a yearago, the finance ministry said. It was recently at 123.98 to the dollar.