Consumer price growth in Tokyo moderated in March but stayed well above the central bank’s inflation target, keeping authorities on track to consider more interest increases after they hiked earlier this month for the first time since 2007.
Prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in March from a year before in the capital, slowing slightly from 2.5% in February, the internal affairs ministry said Friday. The reading matched economists’ estimates.
Tokyo’s figures serve as a leading indicator of the national data to be announced April 19.