Inflation in Tokyo slowed for the first time in four months as energy price gains eased and the municipal government waived some water charges for households ahead of a national election likely to center on the cost-of-living crunch.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% in the capital in June from a year earlier, according to a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications release Friday. The median economist forecast was for a 3.3% gain. Overall inflation also came to 3.1%, slowing from 3.4% in May.
That still keeps price gains well above the Bank of Japan’s price goal of 2%, leaving the central bank on track to mull the timing of its next interest rate hike once uncertainties over global trade have cleared.
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