Japan’s key price measure picked up pace on higher energy costs, keeping the Bank of Japan on track for further rate hikes and underscoring the challenges facing new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.9% from a year earlier in September, up from 2.7% in August and accelerating for the first time in four months, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. That matched the median estimate from economists, with many predicting last year’s bigger utility subsidies would push up this year’s numbers.
The first inflation report after Takaichi became prime minister Tuesday gives another reason for her to place the cost of living crunch at the top of her priority list. The country’s key inflation gauge has stayed at or above the BOJ’s 2% target for three and a half years, keeping the central bank on track for a rate hike with most economists seeing it coming in December or January.
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