Japan’s inflation accelerated in May on rising energy costs, a result that calls for the central bank to consider raising interest rates in coming months, although growth in a deeper measure of inflation, with fresh food prices and energy are not taken into account, marking a ninth place. month of cooling and the growth of services prices also slowed down.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.5% in May from a year ago, compared with 2.2% in April, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. The outcome came in slightly below economists’ consensus, while remaining at or above the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) 2% target for a 26th month. Inflation was caused by a 14.7% increase in electricity prices.
The nationwide results were roughly in line with May figures for Tokyo, which were released three weeks ago.
