Japan core inflation seen steady at 1.8% in August: Reuters poll

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TOKYO, Sept 11 : Japan's core consumer inflation likely held steady in August as the impact of higher oil prices from the Middle East conflict was offset by government subsidies, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

Here are a few details: 

• The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which includes energy items but excludes fresh food prices, is expected to have risen 1.8 per cent in August from a year earlier, according to a poll of 16 economists, the same as July and remaining below the BOJ's 2 per cent target.

• "Higher crude oil and naphtha prices are increasingly being passed on to consumer prices, especially for daily necessities, which will push inflation upward," said Ryohei Ikeda, an analyst at Mizuho Research Institute. "However, subsidies for electricity and gas bills will act as a factor pushing inflation downward."

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• Still, data released on Friday showed Japan's wholesale prices remained elevated in August, rising 7.6 per cent from a year earlier.

• Rising fuel costs and higher import prices due to the weak yen have added price pressure to the economy. Oil prices rose on Friday and both major benchmarks are on track to end the week at over $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May.

• Analysts polled by Reuters expect the BOJ to hike interest rates to 1.25 per cent at its two-day meeting ending next Friday, amid persistent concerns over broadening price pressures and yen weakness.

• The internal affairs ministry will announce CPI data at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, September 18 (2330 GMT on September 17).

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