No matter what the Bank of Japan attempts, it just can’t muster any inflationary pressures within the nation at present.
According to Japan’s Statistics Bureau, core consumer price inflation (CPI), that which strips out fresh food prices, fell by 0.3% in the 12 months to April, equaling the multi-year low hit in March.
Though still indicating deflation, the figure was actually an improvement on the 0.4% drop expected.
Indicating that deflationary pressures may strengthen in the months ahead, the core CPI reading for Tokyo — released one-month in advanced of the national figure — slipped to -0.5% year-on-year, below the 0.3% drop of March and expectations for an acceleration to -0.4%.
The so called core-core inflation which strips out both energy and food prices — more akin to core inflation measures used in other developed nations — rose by 0.7% from a year earlier, matching the figure of March.
Headline CPI fell by 0.3% from a year earlier, marking the steepest pace of deflation seen since May 2013.
The Japanese yen is largely unchanged on the news. The USD/JPY currently buys 109.66, a decline of 0.8% for the session.
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