Japan CPI core (all item ex-food) ticked up to -0.3% yoy in September, from August’s -0.4% yoy, better than expectation. Still, core CPI hasn’t be positive for six months since May. The negative reading was caused largely by the government’s travel discount campaign. Yet, taking that facto out, core CPI was just flat. All item CPI dropped to 0.0% yoy, down from 0.2% yoy. CPI core-core (all item ex-food and energy) ticked up to 0.0% yoy, from -0.1% yoy.
BoJ will release its quarterly economic outlook along with policy statement on October 29. No policy change is expected at the meeting. Though, inflation forecasts could be downgraded to reflect the temporary downward price pressure of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Go To Travel campaign.
