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Investing.com-- Tokyo consumer price index inflation grew more than expected to a two-year high in April amid a recovery in private spending, with the strong print furthering speculation over more interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
Tokyo CPI grew 3.5% year-on-year in April from 2.9% in the prior month, government data showed on Friday.
Tokyo core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 3.4% y-o-y to a two-year high in April. The print was higher than expectations of 3.2% and rose sharply from the 2.4% seen in the prior month.
Excluding both fresh food and energy costs, core CPI surged to 3.1% from 2.2% in the prior month. The core reading is closely watched by the BOJ as a gauge of underlying inflation, and pushed further above the BOJ’s 2% annual target.
Tokyo inflation data usually heralds a similar trend in nationwide inflation, given the region’s dominance in Japan’s economy.
Friday’s data comes just days before a BOJ meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged amid heightened uncertainty over the global economy and U.S. trade tariffs.
But steadily increasing inflation gives the BOJ more headroom to raise interest rates further, after a 50 basis point hike earlier this year.
Another round of bumper wage hikes- stemming from springtime wage negotiations- are set to boost private consumption, in turn underpinning inflation over the coming months. This trend is expected to elicit more rate hikes and hawkish measures from the BOJ.