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(Update) Japan Consumer Prices Rise for 1st Time in Over 2 Yrs [Jiji Press English News Service](Jiji Press English News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Tokyo, Aug. 26 (Jiji Press)--Japan's core consumer prices rose in July for the first time in two years and seven months due to rising gasoline prices and a smaller fall in television prices, government data showed Friday. The core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food prices, rose 0.1 pct from a year before to 99.8, against 100 for the base year of 2010, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In a regular revision every five years, the ministry changed the base year for CPIs to 2010 from 2005, reshuffled component items and adjusted their weights to have the indexes better reflect current consumption patterns. Under the previous calculation format, the core CPI rose in April, but its comeback to positive territory was pushed back under the new standards. In a press conference, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said, "Judging the situation in a comprehensive manner, prices are still on a gradual declining trend." An official of the internal affairs ministry said price movements are very small at present. The ministry plans to carefully watch how energy prices will move in the coming months. Besides gasoline and TV prices, the termination of the government's pilot program to scrap expressway tolls also contributed to July's rise in the core CPI. The overall CPI, including fresh food prices, rose 0.2 pct to 99.7, the first gain in eight months. The index that excludes food and energy prices fell 0.5 pct to 99.0. The core CPI for Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards, a leading indicator of nationwide prices, fell 0.2 pct in August to 99.6.END (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |