Japan Inflation At 2-Year Low

(RTTNews) - Japan's consumer price inflation weakened to a two-year low in January, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed Friday.

Core inflation that excludes prices of food, slowed to 2.0 percent from 2.4 percent in the previous month. This was the lowest since January 2024.

At the same time, headline inflation stood at 1.5 percent in January, down from 2.1 percent in December. Excluding fresh food and energy, inflation weakened to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent in December, data showed.

Last month, the Bank of Japan projected that inflation will decelerate below 2 percent in the first half of this year with the waning of the effects of the rise in food prices. The bank had raised its inflation forecast for the fiscal 2026 to 1.9 percent from 1.8 percent.

In December, the BoJ had raised its interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, the highest since 1995.