Japan’s key price measure cooled a tad more than expected while remaining well above the Bank of Japan’s target, keeping pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to mollify voters as he heads into Sunday’s national election.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.3% from a year earlier in June, slowing from a 3.7% gain — a two-year high — in the previous month, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday.
The median estimate of economists was for a gain of 3.4%, with expectations that the government’s energy subsidies would help moderate price growth. Slower gains in energy prices weighed on the gauge.
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