TOKYO, Jan. 20 (BNA): Japan’s consumer price inflation hit a 41-year high of 4% in December, as prices for everything from burgers to gas soared, the Associated Press reports.
That rate is still relatively low, compared to some other countries, including the United States. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, has been sheltering in deflation, or chronic falling prices, for decades.
The Department of Home Affairs and Communications said the last time core consumer prices rose significantly was in December 1981.
The Federal Reserve and several other central banks raised interest rates to tame inflation, but the Bank of Japan kept its benchmark rate at a long-term low of -0.1%.
The sharp weakness of the Japanese yen against the US dollar and other currencies has added pressure on the Bank of Japan, and speculation has been growing that it may soon change course and start raising interest rates.
The ministry said Japan’s core consumer price index, excluding fresh food, rose 2.3% in 2022 from a year earlier, the highest level in 31 years.
The BoJ’s inflation target is around 2%. While prices have risen more than usual, and some companies, such as Fast Retailing, which operates clothing chain Uniqlo, have announced wage increases, incomes in Japan have stagnated overall.
Central bank officials say they expect inflation to ease as other economies slow and possibly enter recessions.
insignificant