Tokyo CPI Ex Fresh Food MoM FEB (11:30 pm GMT 6:30pm EST)

Outlook: 0.0%
Previous: -0.3%

Outlook:
The core CPI rate in metropolitan Tokyo, the national measure of consumer prices is expected to remain steady after the –0.3% decline in the previous month, and the annual drop of -0.5%, putting a brief halt to the deflationary behemoth which has generated 63 consecutive months of price declines in the annual readings. Nonetheless, the Bank of Japan will likely continue with its quantitative easing strategy of keeping interest rates near zero until prices merit a sustainable gain for at least a few consecutive months.

Previous:Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile food prices, tumbled another –0.3% in January, prompting policy maker, Atsushi Mizuno to state that the Bank of Japan will abandon its forecast made in October for a possible fiscal year gain of 0.1% in prices. This deterioration comes in the wake of a –0.2% annual downslide in the National Core consumer price index in December as utility pricing continued its deflationary trend in telephone and electricity charges.