TOKYO -- Consumer prices in Japan are on track to rise 2% this month for the first time in seven years, according to a survey of economists by Nikkei on Friday.
The five forecasts showed the core consumer price index, which strips out volatile fresh food prices but includes energy and fuel, increasing by an average of 2%. The economists see broadening price hikes driven by a weaker yen and higher commodity prices amid the war in Ukraine, along with the absence of last spring's rate cuts by wireless carriers that reduced inflation until last month.
