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Japan headline inflation rate hits highest this year as energy prices bite
Services inflation rose 1.2% as firms passed on higher labor and import costs, reinforcing expectations the Bank of Japan will raise rates in September.
On Aug 21, data showed Japan's core CPI rose 1.8% in July as firms passed on rising import costs from a weak yen and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, bolstering the case for a central bank rate hike.
The Bank raised interest rates to a 31-year high of 1% in June, keeping policy steady in July while issuing its strongest warning to date about mounting inflation risks as prices remained below its 2% target.
An index excluding fresh food and fuel rose 1.9% in July, while service-sector inflation reached 1.2% as firms passed on rising labor costs from a tight job market; goods prices climbed 2.7%.
Sources told Reuters the BOJ is widely expected to raise rates to 1.25% at its September 17–18 policy meeting, with the Bank considering more aggressive hikes thereafter from the current pace of roughly two times yearly.
Masato Koike, senior economist at Sompo Institute Plus, said "Core consumer inflation is likely to re-accelerate given renewed tension in the Middle East," warning that geopolitical volatility adds to price pressures from a weak yen.
The depreciation of the yen and the tensions in the Middle East push inflation in Japan in July, surpassing the target of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) for the seventh consecutive month if the effect of government subsidies on fuels is excluded. (ANSA)