Core consumer prices up 0.9% in March

April 20, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's core consumer price index in March rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier, jacked up by higher energy prices including electricity and gasoline costs, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.

The result matched the median forecast among the 21 economic research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press.

The core CPI, which excludes often volatile fresh food prices, stood at 100.6 against 100 for the base year of 2015, gaining ground for the 15th straight month.

Month on month, the index was down 0.1 percent.

Japanese prices "are rising mildly," a ministry official said.

The government will watch how the price situation will be affected by a drop in government-administered drug prices and an increase in out-of-pocket medical expenses paid by elderly people, the official added.

Energy prices rose by 5.7 percent year-on-year and food prices excluding perishables by 1.1 percent.

Prices of smartphones and other handsets increased after last year's price cuts. Recovering demand for European tours helped boost foreign package tour prices.

Transportation fees increased following markups by parcel delivery service providers.

Meanwhile, rents dropped. Discount campaigns by major telephone carriers pushed down smartphone communications fees.

The overall CPI including fresh food advanced 1.1 percent. The pace of rise decelerated by 0.4 percentage point from the previous month as vegetable prices stopped soaring.

For the whole of fiscal 2017, which ended in March, the core CPI rose 0.7 percent from the previous year to 100.4, posting the first rise in three years on the back of higher energy prices. Jiji Press