Japan's Consumer Prices Rise 3.0% in February... 3rd Consecutive Month Above 3%

BOJ's Next Rate Hike Expected as Inflation Slows to 3.0%
Electricity and Gas Subsidies Help Ease Price Growth
Market Anticipates Possible July Rate Increase

The main building of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) located in Tokyo, Japan. On the 21st, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that consumer prices (excluding fresh food) rose 3.0% year-on-year in February. / AFP News Agency · Yonhap News Agency

Japan's consumer prices in February (excluding fresh food) rose 3.0% year-on-year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on the 21st.

This marks the third consecutive month that consumer prices have maintained a growth rate in the 3% range, following 3.0% in December last year. However, the February increase was 0.2 percentage points lower than January's 3.2%, which was the highest in 19 months.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported, "The resumption of government subsidies for electricity and gas bills has slowed the rate of increase for the first time in four months," adding, "Including fresh food, last month's increase was 3.7%."

As a result, the market's expectations for an additional interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are growing, Reuters noted.

The BOJ's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for April 30 to May 1. The BOJ ended its large-scale monetary easing policy that lasted for 10 years last year and raised interest rates to around 0.5% in January this year.

According to a Reuters survey, more than two-thirds of responding economic experts expect the BOJ to raise interest rates to 0.75% in the third quarter. In particular, a rate hike in July is considered highly likely.