Japan’s Prices Climb by Most in Two Years Ahead of Election

Japan’s key consumer inflation measure accelerated more than expected to a fresh two-year high, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gears up for a summer election and the Bank of Japan mulls the country’s price trajectory.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food quickened for a third month to 3.7% from a year earlier in May, according to a Ministry of Internal Affairs release Friday. That’s the fastest pace since January 2023 and above the 3.6% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.