Japan’s key inflation gauge held above the central bank’s target even as price gains moderated slightly, in data largely supporting the central bank’s view that underlying inflation remains solid.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier, down from 2.4% in September, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. That was above the consensus estimate of 2.2%. An index excluding energy costs and fresh food prices gained 2.3%, up from 2.1%.
Friday’s data is likely to keep the central bank on track to further normalize its policy settings with a rate hike in coming months, as predicted by most economists surveyed by Bloomberg.