Japan’s Inflation Slows to 2.2%

Japan’s inflation slowed more than forecast in January, highlighting central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda’s challenge in reflating the world’s third-biggest economy.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said Friday. That was less than the median projection of 2.3 percent. Stripped of the effect of sales-tax increase last April, core inflation — the Bank of Japan’s key measure — was 0.2 percent.

While the tumble in oil prices will pull down inflation in the near term, underlying consumer price trends remain on track for the BOJ’s 2 percent goal, Kuroda said last week. Economists at BNP Paribas SA and JPMorgan Chase & Co. see consumer prices falling in the coming months.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.