Berliner Boersenzeitung - Japan core inflation slows to 3% in Feburary

EUR -
AED 4.178094
AFN 80.660838
ALL 98.620985
AMD 442.81052
ANG 2.050119
AOA 1037.406639
ARS 1323.548457
AUD 1.782369
AWG 2.047514
AZN 1.936072
BAM 1.953658
BBD 2.295063
BDT 138.107337
BGN 1.953169
BHD 0.428707
BIF 3380.393055
BMD 1.137508
BND 1.490752
BOB 7.854387
BRL 6.46036
BSD 1.136644
BTN 96.94284
BWP 15.560799
BYN 3.719988
BYR 22295.149099
BZD 2.283276
CAD 1.576574
CDF 3272.609072
CHF 0.939342
CLF 0.027909
CLP 1070.974491
CNY 8.289035
CNH 8.293358
COP 4893.842103
CRC 572.966647
CUC 1.137508
CUP 30.143952
CVE 110.144216
CZK 24.975123
DJF 202.41625
DKK 7.465351
DOP 67.455435
DZD 150.530901
EGP 57.967725
ERN 17.062614
ETB 151.48415
FJD 2.567807
FKP 0.858034
GBP 0.854877
GEL 3.117175
GGP 0.858034
GHS 17.221115
GIP 0.858034
GMD 81.330736
GNF 9843.119485
GTQ 8.754323
GYD 237.817119
HKD 8.825364
HNL 29.468426
HRK 7.533257
HTG 148.505843
HUF 407.262067
IDR 19165.353793
ILS 4.147654
IMP 0.858034
INR 97.060794
IQD 1489.05401
IRR 47903.288019
ISK 144.895596
JEP 0.858034
JMD 180.062543
JOD 0.806724
JPY 162.126117
KES 147.091207
KGS 99.324201
KHR 4549.970495
KMF 494.24449
KPW 1023.692616
KRW 1632.653167
KWD 0.348669
KYD 0.947253
KZT 587.420669
LAK 24581.827421
LBP 101848.612626
LKR 340.953113
LRD 227.338701
LSL 21.212452
LTL 3.358764
LVL 0.688067
LYD 6.220179
MAD 10.542746
MDL 19.636294
MGA 5115.345533
MKD 61.465435
MMK 2387.74812
MNT 4030.323332
MOP 9.083459
MRU 45.036217
MUR 51.531147
MVR 17.523332
MWK 1971.021247
MXN 22.283194
MYR 4.974301
MZN 72.800375
NAD 21.212452
NGN 1833.002813
NIO 41.833757
NOK 11.83058
NPR 155.109906
NZD 1.902521
OMR 0.437964
PAB 1.136644
PEN 4.194963
PGK 4.704799
PHP 64.217422
PKR 319.496131
PLN 4.275141
PYG 9097.943198
QAR 4.14352
RON 4.976825
RSD 117.090569
RUB 94.233029
RWF 1623.20572
SAR 4.266897
SBD 9.483381
SCR 16.208892
SDG 683.071875
SEK 10.911303
SGD 1.492228
SHP 0.893902
SLE 25.877833
SLL 23852.947296
SOS 649.581957
SRD 41.917193
STD 23544.110848
SVC 9.946093
SYP 14790.043117
SZL 21.202749
THB 38.038825
TJS 12.07735
TMT 3.992652
TND 3.393279
TOP 2.664159
TRY 43.582478
TTD 7.712542
TWD 36.985836
TZS 3059.895608
UAH 47.394411
UGX 4167.393393
USD 1.137508
UYU 47.677298
UZS 14639.817249
VES 94.767943
VND 29637.760703
VUV 136.272965
WST 3.153487
XAF 655.23271
XAG 0.033986
XAU 0.000341
XCD 3.074171
XDR 0.818078
XOF 655.23271
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.973029
ZAR 21.289302
ZMK 10238.937064
ZMW 31.969661
ZWL 366.276985
  • RBGPF

    63.0000

    63

    +100%

  • SCS

    0.1300

    9.75

    +1.33%

  • GSK

    0.4000

    37.03

    +1.08%

  • CMSD

    0.2800

    22.29

    +1.26%

  • NGG

    -2.6400

    71.71

    -3.68%

  • BTI

    -0.2900

    42.51

    -0.68%

  • CMSC

    0.2800

    22.16

    +1.26%

  • RIO

    0.5800

    60.2

    +0.96%

  • RELX

    -0.4000

    52.7

    -0.76%

  • BP

    -0.2700

    28.6

    -0.94%

  • RYCEF

    0.3400

    9.84

    +3.46%

  • VOD

    -0.2800

    9.3

    -3.01%

  • BCE

    -0.0300

    22.22

    -0.14%

  • AZN

    0.6400

    68.51

    +0.93%

  • JRI

    0.1500

    12.49

    +1.2%

  • BCC

    0.3000

    93.33

    +0.32%

Japan core inflation slows to 3% in Feburary
Japan core inflation slows to 3% in Feburary / Photo: Philip FONG - AFP

Japan core inflation slows to 3% in Feburary

Japanese inflation eased in February, government data showed Friday, with prices excluding fresh food rising 3.0 percent year-on-year in the world's fourth-largest economy.

Text size:

The core Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed from 3.2 percent in January, remaining above the Bank of Japan's two-percent target which has been exceeded every month since April 2022.

Government subsidies for electricity and gas bills contributed to the deceleration, the internal affairs ministry said.

February's core reading narrowly beat expectations of 2.9 percent, as rising prices for petrol, food and accommodation among other necessities continued to squeeze households.

"We want to protect people's livelihoods from high prices while paying close attention to the impact of price trends on households and business activities," top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

Measures taken by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba include subsidies, the release of stockpiled rice and efforts "to realise wage increases that will not be defeated by rising prices", Hayashi told reporters.

In February, rice prices were up 81 percent year-on-year -- a record for the grain -- while chocolate was 30 percent more expensive.

This month, the government began a rare auction of its emergency rice stockpiles in a bid to help drive down the staple's surging price.

Japan has previously tapped into its reserves during disasters, but this was the first time since the stockpile was created in 1995 that supply chain problems have prompted the move.

The price of cabbage rose 130 percent, Friday's data showed -- a trend that has been dubbed "cabbage shock" by local media in recent months, after last year's record summer heat and heavy rain ruined crops.

- Tariff uncertainty -

Ishiba's minority government is struggling to gain strong support from voters, who were already angry over inflation and other issues when he took office in October.

Overall, including volatile fresh food prices, inflation in February was up 3.7 percent year-on-year, exceeding economist expectations of 3.5 percent but slowing from 4.0 percent in January.

This deceleration "was driven both by fresh food inflation coming off the boil and by the resumption of subsidies for electricity and gas", Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics explained.

Yet "core core" inflation, excluding both fresh food and energy prices, accelerated slightly to 2.6 percent year-on-year, hitting an 11-month high.

"The strength in underlying inflation in February suggests that the Bank of Japan could hike rates at its next meeting in May but we still expect that uncertainty over the impact of US tariffs will delay a move to July," Thieliant said.

"That said, the details were not quite that encouraging. One reason for that pick-up was a further jump in rice inflation to a fresh record... which certainly won't be sustained," Thieliant added.

The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged this week, warning about the global economic outlook given US President Donald Trump's trade policies.

The BoJ is aware that rising prices "are contributing negatively to people's lives", governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters on Wednesday.

"A rise in food prices, including rice... can affect the basic pace of inflation through a change in households' mindset and expectation of future inflation," he said.

(K.Müller--BBZ)