TOKYO, Nov 18 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s consumer prices increased 3.6 percent in Oct, from a year earlier, marking a 40-year high, owing to a weak yen further inflating soaring energy costs, the government said, in a report today.
The nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food items, rose for the 14th straight month, the data showed, beating a 3.5 percent increase forecast by economists here.
The latest data, showing inflation hit its highest level since Feb, 1982, came on the heels of Sept’s 3.0 percent increase and again topped the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) two percent target.
The CPI has remained above the BOJ’s two percent target for seven straight months, but the Japanese central bank believes that, the current global inflation crisis is temporary.
The bank’s commitment to its ultra-easy monetary policy is in contrast to other major central banks, which have aggressively hiked their interest rates to tame soaring inflation.
The widening interest rate gap between the BOJ and its global peers, particularly the U.S. Federal Reserve, has resulted in the Japanese currency dropping to a series of 32-year lows versus the U.S. dollar.
The yen’s persistent weakness of late has driven up import costs for energy products, including liquified natural gas and coal, as well as, food products, the downside effects of which are being felt by households in resource-poor Japan.– NNN-NHK
