TyB
Japan's inflation slows further, keeping BOJ cautious on further rate hikes
(Rates will NEBER normalize with the rest of world as if they do that not only do they blow up their own bond market and muh yen carry trade-they’ve got hands full with muh yen as the next time they intervene they will sell our debt which will spike our Treasury rates like last Oct-there is a good reason Buffet owns 10% of Japan’s top trading houses and the hedgies and funds are flocking here….low rates forever)
Japan's core inflation slowed for a second straight month in April, likely signalling that the Bank of Japan will be patient in raising interest rates as consumption remains fragile. While inflation is tracking comfortably above the central bank's 2% target, policymakers are keen to see Japan's price impulse bears the stamp of sustainable domestic demand. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items, rose 2.2% from a year earlier after gaining 2.6% in March, government data showed on Friday. It matched the median market forecast. The "core core" index, which excludes both fresh food and energy costs and is closely watched by the Bank of Japan as a key gauge of broader inflation trends, rose 2.4% after increasing 2.9% in March. That marked the slowest growth since September 2022.
Inflation data is seen as key to further decisions on rate hikes by the BOJ, which wants to push interest rates higher albeit gradually after ending negative rates in March in a landmark shift away from its decade-long super-easy monetary policy. “Weak consumption has made it difficult to raise prices in April and May," Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said. He said the BOJ would need to see the core-core inflation stop cooling down before raising interest rates. "I think a rate hike in June, July seems a bit premature." (A hike of one tenth of a percent is NOT a rate hike!)
https://www.reuters.com/world/japan/japans-april-inflation-slows-further-22-matches-forecast-2024-05-23/