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TOKYO, May 24, 2024 (AFP) – The pace of Japanese inflation slowed in April to 2.2 percent as gas bills fell, government data showed Friday, with the figure remaining above the Bank of Japan’s two percent target. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) excluding volatile fresh food prices eased from a 2.6 percent year-on-year rise in prices logged in March by the internal affairs ministry. Friday’s figure was in line with market expectations and comes as […]
NEW YORK, April 8, 2024 (AFP) – Inflation could remain elevated for longer than expected, posing a risk to the US economy’s near-term health, JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Monday. In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon pointed to “persistent inflationary pressures” that belie the stock market’s confidence about the outlook and could result in even higher interest rates. “Equity values, by most measures, are at the high end of the valuation range,” […]
By Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Feb 27, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese inflation slowed less than expected to two percent in January, data showed Tuesday, hitting the central bank’s target and firming expectations of an end to its outlier negative rates policy. Other major central banks including the US Federal Reserve have hiked borrowing costs because of rising prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, and may soon start cutting again. But haunted by […]
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 15, 2024 (AFP) – Argentina’s monthly inflation slowed slightly in January, but the prices of key goods and services rose 254 percent year-on-year, the statistics agency said Wednesday. President Javier Milei had warned that the country’s battle with inflation was far from over when he took office in December, riding a wave of fury over decades of economic mismanagement, and stood by his policies Wednesday. “If one takes the number alone, isolated, […]
BEIJING, Feb 8, 2024 (AFP) – Chinese consumer prices fell in January at their quickest rate in more than 14 years, data showed Thursday, as the country’s leaders struggle to revive buying sentiment in the world’s second-biggest economy. The reading will likely add to calls for officials to do more to breathe life into the economy, with central bank interest rate cuts and measures to boost lending having little impact so far. The 0.8 percent […]
By Roland JACKSON LONDON, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – British annual inflation unexpectedly picked up in December, data showed Wednesday, dashing hopes of an early cut to UK interest rates and prolonging a cost-of-living squeeze before an election. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) accelerated slightly to 4.0 percent from 3.9 percent in November, the Office for National Statistics said, confounding expectations for a modest slowdown. The news dented hopes the Bank of England would cut […]
TOKYO, Dec 22, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese consumer inflation slowed to 2.5 percent year-on-year in November, down from 2.9 percent the previous month, as electricity and gas bills declined, government data showed Friday. The figure for the world’s third-largest economy, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, was in line with market expectations in a Bloomberg survey. It is the lowest increase in prices since July 2022, as electricity and gas bills declined while the cost […]
PARIS, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – Zurich and Singapore are the most expensive cities in the world ahead of New York amid the ever-rising cost of living, according to rankings published Thursday by The Economist magazine. The British weekly estimated that prices have increased an average of 7.4 percent over the past year in 173 major cities, a slight slowdown compared to a record 8.1 percent inflation in 2022. “The cost of living crisis is […]
MOSCOW, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Russia’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 6.7 percent in October, the country’s federal statistics agency said Friday, as a weak currency and surging military spending push prices higher across the economy. Rising prices have caused concern for the Kremlin and Russia’s Central Bank, which has raised interest rates to 15 percent in a bid to battle inflation. Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin urged his government to “reduce” inflation […]
MOSCOW, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for officials to act on high inflation, as he warned the economy faced increased pressure from Western sanctions. Inflation has remained stubbornly high in Russia, ticking upwards as the economy grapples with a weaker ruble and rising military spending on the offensive in Ukraine. “I once again draw the attention of the government and the Bank of Russia to the importance of […]
TOKYO, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese consumer inflation slowed to below three percent last month for the first time since August 2022 on the back of easing gas and electricity prices, government data showed Friday. The annual reading of 2.8 percent, excluding volatile fresh food prices, was just shy of market expectations of 2.7 percent and follows 3.1-percent rises in August and July in the world’s number-three economy. But stripping energy as well as […]
By Daniel AVIS WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – US inflation is “still too high” despite a recent slowdown, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, leaving the door open for a new interest rate hike. Additional evidence of “persistently above-trend growth” or fresh signs of tightness in the labor market “could warrant further tightening of monetary policy,” he told a conference in New York. The Fed recently slowed its aggressive campaign of monetary tightening […]
