Japan’s CPI Eases to 2.2%

Japan’s consumer inflation eased in January for a sixth straight month pushing the Bank of Japan further from its 2 percent price target.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.2 percent in January from the year-ago period, government data showed on Friday, compared with Reuters’ forecast for a rise of 2.3 percent and compared with a 2.5 percent rise in December.

In other data, household spending for January fell 5.1 percent from the year before, versus expectations for a 4.1 percent decline and after declining 3.4 percent in the previous month.  Japan’s economy has been on the backfoot ever since the government raised nationwide consumption tax to 8 percent from 5 percent last April, in a bid to reduce the country’s massive debt.

CNBC