Consumer prices in Japan fell for the fourth straight month in a row during the period of June, adding pressure on the Bank of Japan to adopt an easing policy at its monetary policy meeting scheduled to take place today.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, stood at 103.0 against the base of 100. Moreover, Japan’s national CPI declined 0.4 percent in June from a year earlier, following a similar decline in May, data released by the Statistics Bureau showed Friday.
In addition, Core CPI inflation in Tokyo, the country’s capital and largest city, declined 0.4 percent in July from a year earlier following an annualized decline of 0.5 percent in the month before. This came in slightly lower than the 0.5 percent decline seen in a Reuters poll.
However, despite a falling inflation and the government’s steps to prop up the ailing economy by injecting economic stimulus, the Bank of Japan remained on hold during its two-day monetary policy meeting concluded on Friday.
However, BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda expanded the central bank’s target for exchange-traded fund purchases to 6 trillion yen while keeping its target for government-bond buying and its policy interest rate unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen climbed along with surge in gold prices following the BoJ’s monetary policy decision, while equities in Tokyo slumped. However, crude oil headed for its biggest monthly decline in a year.
