Yoshifumi Takemoto and Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) – Core consumer prices in the Japanese capital, a leading indicator of national inflation, rose 2.8% year-on-year in September, outpacing the central bank’s sixth consecutive rise A four-month target of 2% was set, the biggest gain since 2014.
The data reinforces market expectations that nationwide core consumer inflation will approach 3% month ahead and may cast doubt on the BOJ’s view that the recent cost-push price hike will prove temporary .
Tokyo’s core consumer price index (CPI), which includes petroleum products but excludes fresh food prices, was in line with the median forecast and rose 2.6% in August. It matched June’s 2.8% gain 2014.
Higher prices for goods and services ranging from electricity and chocolate to sushi and hotel bills showed more companies passing on rising raw material costs to households, data showed on Tuesday.
“The data shows that price increases are widening. We may see core consumer inflation surpassing 3 percent in October,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Agriculture, Forestry, and China Gold Research Institute
“Inflation is still very likely to moderate gradually next year as energy costs peak and consumers may not be able to afford further price increases.”
Bank of Japan in October Data is one of the key factors when it comes to the release of new quarterly growth and inflation forecasts at the next policy-setting meeting of the United States 27-28. National CPI data for September will be released in October.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has pledged to keep policy ultra-loose despite a recent rise in inflation, which he believes is driven by temporary factors rather than strong consumption.
But signs of wider price gains prompted some BOJ policymakers to warn last month that inflation could exceed expectations, underscoring the challenges facing Kuroda
BOJ Its dovish stance makes it an anomaly amid a series of central bank rate hikes to combat rising inflation, has pushed the yen to
year lows and overstated the cost of importing already expensive fuel and raw materials.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday pledged to compile a
as inflation hurts his reputation, but analysts doubt the government can continue to offset higher inf The pain of
“If another massive spending plan boosts demand, Japan will import more goods from overseas. This in turn will accelerate the yen’s depreciation,” chief executive of Daiichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo Economist Hideo Kumano said. continue to hurt Kishida’s approval ratings,” he said.
Japan’s monetary base, or the amount of cash circulating in the economy, fell 3.3 percent year-on-year in September, marking a sign Data released on Tuesday showed the first year-on-year decline since April 2012.
The decline highlights the quantitative easing deployed by Kuroda in
A planned turning point , which aims to raise inflation to the 2% target through massive money printing.
