ID :
11024
Sat, 06/28/2008 - 11:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/11024
The shortlink copeid
Japanese inflation at fastest pace in over 15 years
TOKYO, June 28 Kyodo - The key Japanese consumer price index rose 1.5 percent in May from a year earlier, the fastest increase in more than 15 years, as worldwide inflationary pressure pushed energy costs still higher, the government said Friday.
The core nationwide CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose for
the eighth straight month to 101.6 against the base of 100 for 2005, the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report.
The headline reading beat the market forecast of a 1.4 percent rise in a Kyodo
News survey. Excluding the period during which Japanese prices rose under the
effect of the 1997 consumption tax hike, the latest CPI marked the sharpest
rise since March 1993, when it rose 1.6 percent.
Energy costs increased 10.5 percent in May on year with gasoline prices up 18.0
percent, largely affected by recent record-high crude oil prices.
Gasoline prices accelerated their rises after the government reintroduced a tax
surcharge in the reporting month. In April, the prices slowed the rate of
increase to 0.7 percent from the 19.0 percent expansion in March as a result of
a temporary price fall after the tax rule expired in April.
Prices of nonperishable foods were also on the rise as the global commodity
market remained robust.
Confectionaries led the advance, the ministry said, with the price of chocolate
rising 23.2 percent.
The price of spaghetti grew 32.2 percent while that of cheese was up 27.7 percent.
Economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota warned of such cost-push
inflation reflecting soaring raw material costs.
''The CPI is not pulled up by demand. This is no good,'' Ota said after the
release of the data. Inflation pushed by cost increases only hurts corporate
earnings and consumer confidence, she said.
Hiroko Iwaki, an analyst at the Development Bank of Japan, forecasts a 2
percent rise in the core nationwide CPI this summer as oil and food prices
continue to rise.
''If prices keep rising for grains, milk, dairy products and condiments, then
processed food makers may seek chances to pass on such growing costs to the
prices of their products,'' Iwaki said.
With fresh food prices included, the nationwide CPI rose 1.3 percent to 101.7,
increasing for the eighth straight month.
But excluding both food and energy prices, the index was down 0.1 percent to
99.4, decreasing for the second straight month. The index is similar to the
consumer price indicators used in the United States, and some experts say it
better reflects price trends.
The core CPI for Tokyo's 23 wards climbed a stronger-than-expected 1.3 percent
in June from the year before to 101.3, the ministry said. The market had
projected a 1.1 percent rise.
Prices of nonperishable foods rose 3.2 percent and energy costs increased 8.3
percent with gasoline prices up 24.4 percent.
Consumer prices in Tokyo are seen as the leading indicator of prices across Japan.==Kyodo
The core nationwide CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose for
the eighth straight month to 101.6 against the base of 100 for 2005, the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report.
The headline reading beat the market forecast of a 1.4 percent rise in a Kyodo
News survey. Excluding the period during which Japanese prices rose under the
effect of the 1997 consumption tax hike, the latest CPI marked the sharpest
rise since March 1993, when it rose 1.6 percent.
Energy costs increased 10.5 percent in May on year with gasoline prices up 18.0
percent, largely affected by recent record-high crude oil prices.
Gasoline prices accelerated their rises after the government reintroduced a tax
surcharge in the reporting month. In April, the prices slowed the rate of
increase to 0.7 percent from the 19.0 percent expansion in March as a result of
a temporary price fall after the tax rule expired in April.
Prices of nonperishable foods were also on the rise as the global commodity
market remained robust.
Confectionaries led the advance, the ministry said, with the price of chocolate
rising 23.2 percent.
The price of spaghetti grew 32.2 percent while that of cheese was up 27.7 percent.
Economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota warned of such cost-push
inflation reflecting soaring raw material costs.
''The CPI is not pulled up by demand. This is no good,'' Ota said after the
release of the data. Inflation pushed by cost increases only hurts corporate
earnings and consumer confidence, she said.
Hiroko Iwaki, an analyst at the Development Bank of Japan, forecasts a 2
percent rise in the core nationwide CPI this summer as oil and food prices
continue to rise.
''If prices keep rising for grains, milk, dairy products and condiments, then
processed food makers may seek chances to pass on such growing costs to the
prices of their products,'' Iwaki said.
With fresh food prices included, the nationwide CPI rose 1.3 percent to 101.7,
increasing for the eighth straight month.
But excluding both food and energy prices, the index was down 0.1 percent to
99.4, decreasing for the second straight month. The index is similar to the
consumer price indicators used in the United States, and some experts say it
better reflects price trends.
The core CPI for Tokyo's 23 wards climbed a stronger-than-expected 1.3 percent
in June from the year before to 101.3, the ministry said. The market had
projected a 1.1 percent rise.
Prices of nonperishable foods rose 3.2 percent and energy costs increased 8.3
percent with gasoline prices up 24.4 percent.
Consumer prices in Tokyo are seen as the leading indicator of prices across Japan.==Kyodo
