Japan CPI inflation accelerates to 3-month high

Annual consumer price inflation in Japan has picked up to 2.8% in May from 2.5% in April, the latest data by the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications showed.

It has been the highest inflation rate since February.

Since energy subsidies fully ended, electricity prices surged sharply in May, by 14.7% year-on-year, as they reversed decreases in the preceding 15 months.

In May, costs went up further for:

– food (4.1% YoY vs 4.3% YoY in April);
– housing (0.6% YoY vs 0.6% YoY in April);
– transport (2.3% YoY vs 2.7% YoY in April);
– furniture & household utensils (2.9% YoY vs 2.5% YoY in April);
– clothes (2.2% YoY vs 2.2% YoY in April);
– healthcare (1.1% YoY vs 1.2% YoY in April);
– culture (5.2% YoY vs 6.2% YoY in April);
– miscellaneous (1.2% YoY vs 1.1% YoY in April);
– communication (0.4% YoY vs 1% YoY in April).

Conversely, cost of education dropped for the second straight month in May, by 1% YoY.

Annual core CPI inflation, which excludes fresh food but includes fuel costs, accelerated to 2.5% in May from a three-month low of 2.2% in April. The latest figure may prompt the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates further in the months ahead.

The Japanese Yen was little changed on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/JPY currency pair last trading at 158.767.