Japan's core consumer prices up 3.2% in March on high rice prices

Core consumer prices in Japan rose 3.2 percent in March from a year earlier, driven by higher rice prices, with the key gauge of inflation having remained at or above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target for three straight years, government data showed Friday.The pace of increase in the nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food, accelerated from 3.0 percent in February, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.For the fiscal year that ended March, core CPI increased 2.7 percent from a year earlier, in line with the BOJ's forecast. It fo…READ FULL ARTICLE