Japan’s inflation cooled for a second month while staying above the Bank of Japan’s price target as the yen’s recent depreciation fuels concerns that cost-push inflationary pressures may be here to stay.
Consumer prices excluding those for fresh food rose 2.2% in April from a year earlier, the internal affairs ministry said Friday. The reading matched analysts’ estimates. The gauge stayed at or above the BOJ’s 2% target for a 25th month.
The biggest factor weighing on the index was a deceleration in price gains for processed food, which slowed to 3.5% partly due to base effects after those prices jumped a year earlier in a sign businesses were becoming more willing to pass on rising costs to consumers. Lodging costs also rose at a smaller pace, exerting a drag on the overall gauge.