Higher energy costs caused Japanese consumer prices to edge up for a second month in October, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expected later Friday to deliver a stimulus package that includes countermeasures to ease the pain from more expensive fuel.
Consumer prices, excluding those for fresh food, increased 0.1% compared with a year earlier, the internal affairs ministry reported. The result matched the median forecast from analysts.
Overall gains were limited by plunging mobile phone fees, even as gas prices at the pump surged 21%.