Japan’s consumer inflation rate dropped to 2.9% in November, staying above the 2% target set by the country’s central bank for a 44th straight month, and further strengthening already strong prospects of a rate hike.
Core inflation, which strips out prices of fresh food, remained unchanged from 3% in October, and came in line with Reuters-polled economists’ average estimate.
This data comes as the Bank of Japan is poised to raise rates to their highest level since 1995 as it concludes its 2-day policy meeting later in the day.
The so-called “core-core” inflation rate, which excludes food and energy prices, fell to 3% from 3.1%.
Rice inflation slowed for a sixth straight month, coming in at 37.1%. In May, rice prices had more than doubled year on year, marking the commodity’s highest price growth in over 50 years.
