Reuters

10:39 JST, August 22, 2025

TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan’s core inflation slowed for a second straight month in July but stayed above the central bank’s 2% target, keeping alive market expectations for another interest rate hike in the coming months.

The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items, rose 3.1% in July from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, faster than a median market forecast for a 3.0% gain.

The rise was smaller than the 3.3% increase in June, due largely to the base effect of last year’s increase in energy prices, which came from the termination of government subsidies to curb fuel bills.

Inflation is clearly slowing from May, when it hit 3.7%, and is........

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