Japan's inflation slowed in June, highlighting the task Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda faces in reaching his 2 percent target.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food but not energy rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier after a 3.4 percent gain in May, the statistics bureau said Friday in Tokyo. The increase matched the projection in a Bloomberg News survey of 32 economists.
Kuroda has said inflation will ease in coming months before accelerating later this year toward the BOJ's 2 percent goal, which strips out the effects of April's sales-tax hike. As the impact of the yen's slide on prices fades, some economists say the central bank may add stimulus, should price gains drop below 1 percent — a level Kuroda says they will not break.