Japan’s consumer prices declined for the sixth time in seven months, highlighting the challenge facing the Bank of Japan (8301) as it looks to reach a new 2 percent inflation target. Consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.2 percent in December from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Tokyo today, matching the median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Falling prices may increase pressure on the BOJ to add stimulus as it remains distant from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal of ending deflation. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Abe’s deputy economy minister, said in an interview yesterday that it ... (full story)