|
Sluggish consumer demand and sliding fuel prices likely kept
inflation subdued, while effects from the yen's weakening in the
last few years have fallen off, analysts said.
The core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products
but excludes volatile fresh food prices, likely registered no
change last month after annual 0.1 percent rises in December and
November, according to the poll of 22 analysts.
"Energy price falls such as gasoline and electricity are the
main factor. But there is also a pause in price gains in foods
and daily necessities due to weak consumer spending," Takumi
Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank said in the
survey.
Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said
that core consumer prices will likely fall in February and
continue declining until around June even if currency and oil
markets stay the same.
"Core CPI is expected to bottom out around summer but it may be
difficult to return to plus territory within this year," he
said.
Core consumer prices in Tokyo, available a month before the
nationwide data, likely declined 0.2 percent in February from a
year earlier, compared with a 0.1 percent slip in the year to
January.
The inflation data will be released at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 26
(2330 GMT Feb. 25).
The Bank of Japan now expects inflation to hit its 2 percent
target around the first half of fiscal 2017.
Japan's economy contracted by an annualized 1.4 percent in
October-December as private consumption and exports slumped.
While analysts expect a moderate recovery, stagnant wages,
depressed consumer prices and faltering global growth have
raised fresh doubts about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cocktail
of stimulus policies aimed at quashing years of deflation.
Even the central bank's shock adoption of negative interest
rates late last month has hardly helped turn around business
sentiment, as it failed to boost Tokyo stock prices or weaken
the resurgent yen.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Kim Coghill)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|
