Japanese consumer prices up 0.5% in January

Japan’s statistics office said consumer prices increase 0.5% in January similar to prices in the equal month last year. In December, inflation, calculated approximately prices a year ago, was at the level of 0.8%. Monthly, prices rose by 0.1% in January, identical to in December. Core inflation, which does not take into account the dynamics of food prices, was 0.2% in annual terms last month. Analysts had expected a more significant rise in prices – by 0.3%. The head of the Japanese Finance Ministry, Shunichi Suzuki, said that the increase in prices compared to December was due to an increase in energy prices and a weakening of the national currency. He underlined that the country’s government is ready to increase the amount of economic support, as it maintains to suffer from the negative implication of the spread of coronavirus. The Japanese Finance Ministry intends to normalize the situation in the country’s financial system.

Source: xCritical.com