TOKYO: Japan’s core consumer prices were expected to slow their rate of decline in December and exports were seen to have risen for the first time in 15 months, a Reuters poll showed, a positive sign for the economy. The core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food prices, was expected to have fallen 0.3 percent in December from a year earlier, the poll of 21 analysts showed.
The expected 0.3 percent fall would be the slowest rate of decline since March last year though it would still be the 10th straight month of fall. “Downward impacts on prices from energy price falls are waning but consumer spending remains weak, which will likely weigh on price recovery,” said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank, the central financial institution for Japan’s cooperative banks. The internal affairs ministry will release core CPI at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 27 (2330 GMT Jan. 26). The poll found exports were expected to rise 1.2 percent in December from a year earlier, the first increase since September 2015. Imports were expected to slip 0.8 percent last month, which would result in a 270 billion yen ($2.35 billion) trade surplus. “Exports are picking up moderately, especially to Asian nations, and the trade surplus will likely continue,” Tsunoda said. The finance ministry will publish the trade data at 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday.
