First world problems: Japan’s consumer prices extend record decline
Tokyo — Japan’s core consumer prices marked their eighth consecutive month of annual declines in October, illustrating the sheer scale of the central bank’s struggle to beat deflation and stagnant growth with diminishing policy options. The data will keep policy makers under pressure to do more to stimulate the economy, with fiscal spending likely the more preferred option as three years of aggressive easing by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) failed to accelerate inflation to its 2% target. With downward pressure from energy price declines easing and the yen’s recent falls seen pushing up import costs, however, some analysts expect consumer prices to rebound early next year. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food costs, fell 0.4% in October from a year earlier after a 0.5% drop in September, matching a median market forecast, government data showed on Friday. While falling petrol and electricity prices continued to drag d...
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