TOKYO, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s core consumer inflation is expected to surpass the central bank’s 2% target for the second straight month in October as the impact from the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.
• The nationwide core consumer price index, which includes energy items but excludes fresh food prices, is expected to have grown 2.3% in October from a year earlier, according to a poll of 16 economists
• That compared with a 2.1% gain in September and put core inflation above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target — the strongest since last December.
• “We expect to see continued strong inflation for food products excluding rice, as well as daily necessities due to the situation in Iran,” said Ryosuke Katagi, a market economist at Mizuho Securities
• Data from the Bank of Japan on Thursday showed the nation’s wholesale inflation re-accelerated in October as the Middle East conflict and AI-related demand kept pushing up prices for fuel and semiconductor chips.
• The BOJ held interest rates steady in October, but declared victory in hitting its price target. The central bank must focus on anchoring it around that level, it said
• The internal affairs ministry will release CPI data at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, November 20 (2330 GMT on November 19)
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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