Japan's core inflation steady in November, stays above BOJ target
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TOKYO, Dec 19 : Japan's core consumer prices rose 3.0 per cent in November from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, staying above the central bank's 2 per cent target for the 44th straight month.
The outcome reinforces market expectations the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates to 0.75 per cent from 0.5 per cent at a two-day policy meeting concluding on Friday.
The increase in the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food prices, matched a median market forecast and was steady from the year-on-year pace of rise in October.
An index stripping away volatile fresh food and fuel costs, which is closely watched by the BOJ as a better gauge of underlying price trends, rose 3.0 per cent in November from a year earlier, compared with a 3.1 per cent increase in October.
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The BOJ exited a decade-long, radical stimulus programme last year and raised short-term interest rates to 0.5 per cent in January on the view Japan was on the cusp of sustainably hitting its 2 per cent inflation target.
With stubbornly high food prices keeping inflation above its 2 per cent target, a growing number of BOJ board members have signaled their readiness to vote for a rate hike to avoid being behind the curve in addressing the risk of too-high inflation.
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