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Japan April consumer prices post biggest jump in over 7 years
Japan's core consumer inflation in April rose above the central bank's 2 per cent target, hitting a more than seven-year high as increases in energy and commodity costs are causing broader price hikes that are pressuring households. The rise in consumer prices is making it harder for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to convince markets it will keep monetary policy ultra-loose and as the gains fuel public concerns about pushing up living costs. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food costs but includes those of energy, surged 2.1 per cent in April from a year earlier, government data ... (full story)