Tag - inflation

 
 

INFLATION

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2024
Now Biden needs to show his moderate side
President Biden used his State of the Union speech to rebuke Republicans and offer a progressive economic agenda. But will that appeal to moderate voters?
A poster for digital coupons at a store in the city of Fukushima
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 11, 2024
Fukushima’s welfare coupon campaign highlights digital divide
A call center dedicated to the initiative received so many calls that telephone lines were overloaded.
A representative from Honda's labor union submits a demand for spring negotiations to management last month in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2024
Japan Inc. set to offer bumper pay hikes, paving way for stimulus end
Economists see negotiations resulting in an average increase of around 3.9% in pay for union workers at major firms.
Economy minister Yoshitaka Shindo said the government was currently not thinking about calling an end to deflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
Japan ministers deny report government thinking of calling end to deflation
Policymakers are focused on ensuring the economy doesn't revert to a protracted period of falling prices, they said.
The pickup in consumer prices largely reflected the fading impact of government subsidies rolled out last year to keep a lid on utility costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
Tokyo prices heat up again, supporting case for BOJ rate hike
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.5% in the capital, re-accelerating after cooling in January to a revised 1.8%.
A retail shopping area in Tokyo in February. A recent bout of inflation appears to have cleared the way for Japan to officially end its war on deflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 2, 2024
Japanese government may declare official end to deflation
A recent bout of inflation appears to have cleared the way for Japan to officially end its war on deflation.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 1, 2024
BOJ governor says price target not already in sight
Kazuo Ueda played down the significance of Japan’s slide back into a technical recession.
What is the BOJ hoping to achieve through tighter policy? The bank's governor, Kazuo Ueda, dissented in 2000, arguing then a hike was premature — and he was right. Why the change now.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 29, 2024
Selling a rate hike during recession is tough. Good luck, Ueda.
What sounded like a statement of the obvious by Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda last week — that a country where prices are rising by 2% is, in fact, experiencing inflation — has more to it than meets the eye.
In Tokyo's 23 wards, the average unit price of new condominiums in 2023 soared about 40% from the previous year to ¥114.83 million, topping ¥100 million for the first time.
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2024
Japan's average condo price hits record high for seventh year in 2023
The nationwide average price was pushed up by rising costs for construction materials and labor.
The Bank of Japan is facing hardly any signs of opposition to scrapping its negative interest rate as the strongest price growth in decades weighs on households and businesses.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 28, 2024
BOJ should make straightforward policy shift, top finance professor says
Exiting policy should be like business as usual, said Hiroshi Yoshikawa, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and a friend of BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda.
Japan's consumer price index for January rose 2% from a year ago, topping estimates to support the Bank of Japan's move to end its negative interest rate policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 27, 2024
January inflation topped forecasts, data shows, supporting BOJ policy shift
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2% from a year ago, while prices of processed food gained 5.9% and prices for lodging increased by 27%.
In the U.S., proof that inflation remains sticky and the labor market sound has convinced traders to embrace the Federal Reserve’s pushback against market bets on near-term easing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024
Cracks start to emerge in global central bank synchronicity
The synchronization among central banks might be about to weaken as domestic drivers take over from global trends in determining price outlooks.
In Hokkaido’s Niseko ski resort area, a bowl of ramen or soba from a food truck easily goes for more than three times what it costs at a sit-down joint in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2024
¥3,800 ski-slope ramen is a glimpse of Japan’s future
Foreign tourist spending has potential to stimulate growth but needs careful management to ensure equitable distribution of benefits for locals.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Friday that the BOJ will examine the possibility of easing measures when price targets are met.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2024
BOJ's Ueda maintains pledge to review stimulus when inflation goal met
Data released on Thursday showed Japan's economy unexpectedly slipped into a recession in the final quarter of last year.
The Central Social Insurance Medical Council has adopted a proposal to increase outpatient fees in order to boost the salaries of health care workers.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024
Japan to raise outpatient visit fees to increase workers' pay
In order to increase pay for young doctors, nursing staff and pharmacists, basic hospitalization fees and outpatient fees will be raised.
No politicians, government officials, bankers or business leaders have voiced strong opposition to Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's intention to put an end to the world’s last negative rate regime.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2024
Lack of political opposition opens way for BOJ rate hike
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is in a rare sweet spot for such a move, in sharp contrast to the experiences of his BOJ predecessors.
The International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington. The IMF has underscored the need for Japan to tighten fiscal policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2024
IMF urges BOJ to wind down monetary easing and gradually raise rates
In normalizing monetary policy, the BOJ should take a "gradual and well-communicated" approach to anchor market expectations, the IMF said.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida says after the bank ends its negative rate policy, financial conditions will remain easy and any policy moves thereafter will occur at a gradual pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2024
BOJ's Uchida says sharp hikes unlikely after rates policy shift
Uchida was one of the architects of the bank's current policies and now works closely with Gov. Ueda as an influential member of the BOJ policy board.
The Bank of Japan signed a joint statement with the government in 2013 committing itself to achieve its 2% inflation target "at the earliest date possible."
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2024
Japan's inflation goal still needed even if negative rates end: official
Chief government economist Tomoko Hayashi says any shift in BOJ policy would not alter the importance of the 2% inflation target.
Akihiko Matsuura, head of UA Zensen, has called for a standard 6% increase in total wages.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024
Major union UA Zensen calls for 6% pay raise to support BOJ policy shift
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also pushing for wage gains after hikes last year failed to keep up with inflation, putting a burden on household budgets.

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