Japan inflation slows for sixth straight month in January

Tokyo: Japanese inflation slowed for a sixth straight month in January as fuel costs fell, government data showed Friday despite the Bank of Japan`s massive monetary easing to stoke growth.

Core consumer inflation, excluding volatile fresh food prices, came in at 2.2 percent year-on-year, down from 2.5 percent in December, with the rise in overall consumer prices standing at 2.4 percent, the internal affairs ministry said.

Prices climbed from year-earlier levels largely because the government raised sales tax from 5.0 percent to 8.0 percent on April 1 last year, which drove up retail prices.

Adjusted for the tax increase, the core consumer-price index rose a marginal 0.2 percent from a year earlier in January, after growing 0.5 percent in December, far short of the Bank of Japan`s goal of 2.0 percent inflation.

Inflation is a key measure for Tokyo`s bid to end years of stagnant or falling prices that have been blamed for holding back growth and denting firms` expansion plans.

Prices had been on the rise, largely due to Japan`s heavy energy bills after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of the country`s nuclear reactors, but oil prices have tumbled in recent months and consumers snapped their wallets shut after the tax rise.