Japan's consumer inflation slows to 2.0% in January

Japan's core inflation declined to 2.0 percent in January, the slowest pace of increase in nearly two years, government data showed Tuesday, despite growing confidence among policymakers about sustainable price increases supported by wage growth.The easing of inflation, as measured by the nationwide core consumer price index that excludes volatile fresh food, came as the effects of higher import costs partly due to a weak yen continued to dissipate. But it beat market expectations that it would slip below the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target for the first time since March 2022.The outcome w…READ FULL ARTICLE