Core consumer prices in Japan’s capital rose at the fastest annual pace in more than two years in March, fueled by rising energy costs.
The uptrend in world commodity prices following the war in Ukraine could derail Japan’s fragile recovery from the pandemic, which relies on imports, even as domestic COVID-19 infections decline and distancing restrictions are eased. social, analysts say.
Tokyo’s core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh foods but includes energy items, rose 0.8% year-on-year in March, the fastest pace since December 2019 and higher than the market’s median forecast. of an increase of 0.7%.
The figure followed a 0.5% rise in February.
The measure of inflation in Japan’s capital is considered a leading indicator of the national core CPI that is released about a month later.
A 26.1% rise in energy prices, the fastest annual growth in 41 years, boosted Tokyo’s core CPI in March, the data showed.