Business & Economy

Prices in Japan post 1st increase in 14 months in May

Tokyo, Jun 18 (EFE).- Japan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1 percent in May compared to the same month in 2020, the government announced Friday.

The indicator, which excludes fresh food prices due to their volatility, increased for the first time in 14 months, according to data published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Prices in the world’s third largest economy had declined by 0.1 percent in April.

The data, influenced by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, places Japan far from the 2 percent inflation target set by the Bank of Japan, which launched a monetary easing program in 2013 to achieve that objective.

In its two-day monthly meeting that began on Thursday, the country’s central bank is studying whether to extend financial aid to pandemic-hit companies beyond September.

The sectors that contributed most to the rise in CPI in May were construction, which posted a 0.6 percent increase in prices, and the furniture and household utensils sector, with a 2.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Meanwhile, the transport and communication sector saw a decline of 1.5 percent in relation to the same month of the previous year and the prices of food decreased by 0.6 percent year-on-year. EFE

cgv/pd/tw

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