Japan Still ‘Half Way’ to Sustainable Inflation: PM Takaichi

2025-11-04 05:44 By Farida Husna 1 min. read

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on Tuesday that Japan has yet to achieve sustainable inflation backed by wage growth, signaling caution on further interest rate hikes.

While consumer inflation remains near 3% due to rising food costs, she said the country is still “half way” toward stable price growth supported by stronger wages.

Her remarks followed opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda’s warning that blocking rate increases could weaken the yen and raise import costs.

She also said the government will "strategically" use fiscal spending to boost household income, improve consumer sentiment, and strengthen the economy.

The BoJ ended a decade-long stimulus last year and raised short-term rates to 0.5% in January.

Separately, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government will continue to monitor foreign exchange movements as the yen hits fresh nine-month lows.



News Stream
Japan Inflation Falls to Near 4-Year Low
Japan’s annual inflation eased to 1.3% in February 2026 from 1.5% in the prior month, the lowest since March 2022. Food inflation remained near a 15-month low (4.0% vs 3.9% in January), driven by the slowest rise in rice prices in 21 months. Price growth also slowed for transport (0.5% vs 0.6%) and clothing (2.1% vs 2.4%). Energy costs stayed negative, with electricity (-8.0% vs -1.7%) and gas (-5.1% vs -2.0%) falling at a steeper rate, reflecting subsidy effects. Education costs fell further (-5.6% vs -5.6%). In contrast, inflation held steady for housing (at 1.0%), healthcare (at 0.4%), and miscellaneous goods (at 0.6%) while accelerating for household items (1.2% vs 0.8%), communications (6.8% vs 6.7%), and recreation (2.2% vs 2.1%). Core inflation slipped to 1.6% from January's 2.0%, the lowest since March 2022, below the central bank’s 2% target for the first time since March 2022. Monthly, the CPI fell 0.2%, matching January's reading and extending declines for the third month.
2026-03-23
Japan Inflation Lowest Since 2022
Japan’s annual inflation eased to 1.5% in January 2026 from 2.1% in the prior month, the lowest since March 2022. Food inflation fell to a 15-month low (3.9% vs 5.1% in December), driven by the slowest rise in rice prices in 18 months. Price growth also eased for transport (0.6% vs 1.9%), healthcare (0.4% vs 0.7%), household items (0.8% vs 1.6%), recreation (2.1% vs 2.3%), and miscellaneous goods (0.6% vs 0.8%). Energy costs stayed negative, with electricity (-1.7% vs -2.3%) and gas (-2.0% vs -2.1%) falling for the second straight month, reflecting subsidy effects. At the same time, education costs declined further (-5.6% vs -5.6%). In contrast, inflation held steady for housing (at 1.0%) while accelerating for clothing (2.4% vs 2.0%) and communications (6.7% vs 6.2% ). Core inflation slipped to 2.0% from 2.4%, the lowest since January 2024, within the central bank’s 2% target. Monthly, CPI fell 0.2%, following a 0.1% drop in December.
2026-02-19
Japan Inflation Falls to Lowest Since 2022
Japan’s annual inflation eased to 2.1% in December 2025 from 2.9% in the prior month, the lowest since March 2022. Food inflation fell to a 13-month low (5.1% vs 6.1%), driven by the slowest rise in rice prices in 16 months. Price growth also eased across clothing (2.0% vs 2.3%), transport (1.9% vs 3.3%), healthcare (0.7% vs 0.8%), household items (1.6% vs 1.8%), and communications (6.2% vs 6.9%). Energy costs turned negative, with electricity (-2.3% vs 4.9%) and gas (-2.1% vs 0.7%) falling for the first time in four months, reflecting subsidy effects. Education costs declined further (-5.6% vs -5.6%). In contrast, recreation inflation held steady (at 2.3%), while housing (1.0% vs 0.9%) and miscellaneous goods (0.8% vs 0.6%) edged higher. Core inflation slipped to 2.4% from 3.0%, the lowest since October 2024, though still above the central bank’s 2% target for the 45th straight month. Monthly, CPI fell 0.1%, reversing November’s 0.3% gain and marking the first drop in nine months.
2026-01-22