TOKYO, Sep 24 (XINHUA\/APP):Japan’s core consumer prices stood flat in August from a year earlier, as a record drop in mobile phone charges was offset by surges of accommodation fees and energy prices amid the damaged economy gradually recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Friday.<\/p>\n
Although central banks in the United States and Europe started preparing to reduce stimulus because of the prospect of accelerating inflation, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) did not see a similar urgent and would maintain the monetary easing to reach its 2 percent inflation target.<\/p>\n
The latest consumer price index (CPI) after a 12-month downward streak was lifted by surges in energy prices and accommodation fees.<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, following an increase in crude oil prices, energy prices rose 5.5 percent year-on-year with kerosene and gasoline prices surging 20.0 percent and 16.9 percent respectively.<\/p>\n
Accommodation fees logged the sharpest increase of 46.6 percent on record from a year earlier. In late July last year, the “Go To Travel” subsidy program was launched by the Japanese government to promote local tourism, resulting in a sharp decrease in fees charged by hotel operators. The program was suspended nationnwide in late December last year amid the spread of the COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Since major carriers started offering cheaper plans this spring under government pressure, mobile phone fees dropped 44.8 percent, logging the largest-ever decrease.<\/p>\n
“Absent the impact of mobile communications fees, the ‘Go To’ program, and energy prices, the price trend should be positive, rather than negative,” a ministry official said.The BOJ expects the core CPI to gain 0.6 percent in the current fiscal year through March.<\/p>\n
Toru Suehiro, a senior economist at Daiwa Securities Co., said further rises in the core CPI may be limited due to the pace of gains in energy prices has been slowing.<\/p>\n
Suehiro said that prices in the service sector might increase with an expected recovery in demand suppressed by the pandemic. However, he added, “there is also a possibility that firms (in the service sector) will compete to capture such demand by cutting prices.”<\/p>\n
The core-core consumer prices, which excludes fresh food and energy items, fell 0.5 percent, down for the fifth consecutive month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO, Sep 24 (XINHUA\/APP):Japan’s core consumer prices stood flat in August from a year earlier, as a record drop in mobile phone charges was offset by surges of accommodation fees and energy prices amid the damaged economy gradually recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, government data […]<\/p>\n
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