Inflation & Prices
Japan’s CPI Pickup, Rice Price Surge Raise Pressure on Ishiba
Food remained a major contributor to price growth, rising 6.5% in April from a year earlier.
Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/BloombergJapan’s key inflation gauge accelerated to the fastest clip in more than two years, with soaring rice prices exacerbating Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s troubles after a cabinet shakeup over controversial comments by his agricultural chief on the nation’s staple food.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.5% from a year earlier in April, quickening from a 3.2% gain in the previous month as food and energy prices pushed up prices further, according to a Ministry of Internal Affairs release on Friday. The cost of rice in particular jumped 98.4%, the most in data going back to 1971.