Prices rose 2.2% in Japan in June, the biggest rise in 7 years

Tokyo, July 22 (EFE). Japan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.2% year-on-year in June, the 10th consecutive month of rise and its fastest growth rate in seven years, again driven by increased energy.

The index, which excludes prices of fresh food due to its high degree of volatility, rose by one-tenth compared to May, according to data published by the Ministry of the Interior, Friday.

The June rally follows a 2.1% year-over-year rise in May and exceeds the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) 2% inflation target for the third consecutive month, also driven by a sharp increase in energy and raw materials. the prices.

The June rise is the fastest pace of Japanese CPI growth since March 2015, when prices rose another 2.2%.

The rise in energy prices, at 16.5% on an annual basis, was the most contributing factor to the rise in the CPI in the sixth month of 2022, while the cost of electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 14% compared to the previous year.

Specifically, the price of electricity increased by 18% last month, gas by 17.1% and other fuels by 23.4%.

In 2013, the Bank of Japan launched a very broad monetary easing program to bring inflation down to 2%, although this target has been successively postponed.

The increase in June is in line with the Bank of Japan’s forecast for the current fiscal year 2022 (which will end March 31, 2024), a period in which inflation is expected to grow 2.3% over the previous year, mainly due to “increased costs of energy, food, and durable goods.” .

The Russo-Ukrainian war has made imports of energy and other materials more expensive, and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on supply chains.

Despite the upward trend in prices and in an expected move, the Japanese credit institution the previous day chose once again to keep its ultra-elasticity measures unchanged, based on short-term interest rates of -0.1% and a large ETF buying program to keep the long-term bond yield curve around 0%. EFE

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