Prices in Japan excluding fresh food rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in December. Photo: Philip FONG / AFP/FileSource: AFPJapanese consumer inflation slowed again in December due to lower electricity and gas bills, government data showed Friday, ahead of a Bank of Japan policy decision next week. "Price increases for now are driven by external factors such as global inflation," she said ahead of Friday's data release. Stripping out fresh food and energy, Japan's prices rose 3.7 percent, also in line with expectations. The interest rate gap between Japan and the United States is also a key factor that has driven the yen lower against the greenback.
