On February 27, 2024, a customer was shopping in a supermarket in Tokyo.
Naimi Yihong | Agence France -Presse | Getty Picture Club
Japanese core inflation rate The annual growth rate of December rose to 3%, the highest point since 16 months, which enhanced the reason for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates.
This is consistent with the inflation expectations of economists surveyed by Reuters and higher than the price growth rate of 2.7% in November.
December data means that the country’s core inflation has reached 33 consecutive months or higher than the Bank of Japan 2%. Core inflation data only eliminates the price of fresh food, but includes energy.
Japan’s overall inflation rate was 3.6%, a significant increase from 2.9% in November, reaching the highest level since January 2023.
The data was released on the occasion of the Bank of Japan’s policy conference today. Strong inflation data provides more room for interest rate hikes for the Bank of Japan.
The so-called “core-core” inflation rate (excluding fresh food and energy prices) tracked by the People’s Bank of China stabilized at 2.4%.
After the data was announced, the exchange rate of the yen against the US dollar immediately softened slightly until 156.1.
Economists surveyed by Reuters predict that after today’s meeting, the Bank of Japan will increase key policy interest rates by 25 basis points to the highest level since 2008.
Public opinion Kohita, President of the Bank of Japan, and senior officials of the Bank of Japan, both said that the Bank of Japan is willing to raise interest rates.
According to Reuters, Shangtian said on January 16 that if “the economy and prices continue to improve”, the central bank will raise interest rates.
