Consumer prices fell for a 12th month in February, adding pressure on the central bank to eradicate deflation that is hampering the economic recovery.
Prices excluding fresh food slid 1.2 percent from a year earlier, after dropping 1.3 percent in each of the preceding two months, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said Friday. The result matched the median estimate of 22 economists surveyed.
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said the report shows more efforts are needed to overcome deflation even as price declines ease. The Bank of Japan last week doubled a credit program for commercial lenders to ¥20 trillion, a move Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said is aimed at lowering borrowing costs further to spur growth and prices.