TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s core consumer inflation likely eased for the second straight month in January, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, due to falls in gasoline costs and a slower pace of food price increases.
The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI) – which includes energy items but excludes fresh food prices – is expected to have risen 2.0% in January from a year earlier, a poll of 17 economists showed. That would match the growth rate seen in January 2024 and follow a 2.4% increase in December.
Core consumer inflation has exceeded the central bank’s 2% target for nearly four years, as companies continue to pass on rising raw material costs to customers.
“The drop in gasoline prices following the abolition of the provisional tax rate and the continued deceleration in food price increases likely weighed down inflation,” said Ryosuke Katagi, market economist at Mizuho Securities.
The BOJ left interest rates steady in January after the central bank raised its short-term policy rate to 0.75% from 0.5% in December. The central bank maintained its hawkish inflation forecasts and signalled readiness to keep raising the borrowing costs.
The internal affairs ministry will announce CPI data at 8:30 a.m. on February 20 (2330 GMT on February 19).
(Reporting by Kim Coghill)
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