Latest news with #consumer prices
NHK
2 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Bank of Japan expected to stand pat on interest rates
The Bank of Japan is expected to leave its short-term interest rate unchanged at a two-day policy meeting that ends on Thursday. Analysts say the central bank is likely to remain cautious following the trade deal with the US and as consumer prices remain stubbornly high. The BOJ has stood pat on its policy rate for three consecutive meetings since March. This was amid uncertainties surrounding Japan-US tariff talks. BOJ Deputy Governor Uchida Shinichi said the trade agreement announced last week by Tokyo and Washington may help ease some of those concerns. But he added that the hard data is not yet available to measure how the deal will affect the Japanese and other economies. BOJ officials agree that more time is needed to gauge the real impact of the tariff agreement on corporate profits and personal consumption. In the meeting this week, the BOJ will also give its economic outlook through fiscal 2027. The bank has indicated it will consider raising interest rates if the economy and prices move in line with forecasts.
CNN
7 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Fact check: Five false claims Trump made about inflation last night
President Donald Trump is not only continuing to lie about inflation. He's now falsely claiming that Democrats are lying when they accurately point out that prices are up. In a speech Tuesday night to Republican members of Congress, Trump delivered a series of inaccurate assertions on the subject of prices. He wrongly claimed that gas was selling Tuesday for below $2 a gallon 'in five different states' (it was actually zero states); that prices are 'all down' (consumer prices are up under Trump); that Democrats are lying when they say prices are up (these Democrats are correct); that grocery prices 'are down' (they are up under Trump); and that core inflation is 'below 2%' (it's 2.9%, per the Consumer Price Index). Here is a fact check. False. Of the tens of thousands of gas stations nationwide tracked by the company GasBuddy, there was not a single station offering gas for $1.99 per gallon or less on Tuesday, said Patrick De Haan, the company's head of petroleum analysis. (Some drivers get special discounts.) And no state had an average Tuesday gas price lower than Mississippi's $2.71 per gallon, according to data published by AAA. Trump has regularly claimed this year that two, three, or five states have sub-$2 gas, but CNN has never found any of these claims to be true. False. Grocery prices are up during this Trump presidency. Grocery prices in June were about 0.6% higher than they were in January, the month Trump was inaugurated, and about 2.4% higher than they were in June 2024, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data. Grocery prices did fall this April, as egg prices dropped sharply after a spike caused by an avian flu outbreak, but grocery prices then increased again in May and June. False. Regardless of anyone's opinion of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and interest rate policy, US prices are not 'all down'; in reality, prices have continued to increase during Trump's second presidency. As of June, overall consumer prices were about 2.7% higher than they were in June 2024, about 0.3% higher than they were in May 2025, and about 1.5% higher than they were in January 2025. Given this overall increase in prices since January, it's obvious that prices have gone up in various individual categories — so the president's suggestion that not a single price has increased is clearly untrue. It's important to note that it's normal for prices to rise over time; the Federal Reserve generally aims for 2% inflation over the long run. Trump could fairly say that inflation remains nowhere near the levels of 2022, when it briefly topped 9%, and that his new tariffs have not immediately caused a massive inflation spike. But Trump made a signature campaign pledge to immediately bring prices down, not to keep prices increasing at a moderate pace. Contrary to his claim on Tuesday, that promised decline hasn't happened. Nonsense. It's correct, not a lie, to say overall prices, grocery prices and food prices in general are up during this presidency. And though oil prices are down in world markets, the gasoline prices paid by US drivers have increased slightly since Trump returned to the White House. (They certainly aren't 'through the roof,' but Trump didn't identify the Democrats who supposedly claimed they are.) The national average price for a gallon of regular gas on Tuesday was about $3.14 per gallon, according to AAA data. That's up from about $3.12 per gallon on Trump's second inauguration day in January – though, as GasBuddy's De Haan noted to CNN, the national average is now lower than it was at this point on the calendar in every year since pandemic-era 2021. False. Core inflation is not below 2%. This measure, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, showed prices up about 2.9% in June compared with June 2024, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index data. Other oft-cited measures of core inflation are also above 2%. The most recent data from the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index showed core inflation up about 2.7% in May compared with May 2024, while the most recent data from the Producer Price Index showed core inflation up about 2.6% in June compared with June 2024. The accuracy of Trump's claim that core inflation is 'way down' depends on where you start the clock. The 2.9% Consumer Price Index core inflation rate in June 2025 was up from March, April and May (it was about 2.8% each of those months), but it was down from about 3.3% in January.
CNN
7 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Fact check: Five false claims Trump made about inflation last night
President Donald Trump is not only continuing to lie about inflation. He's now falsely claiming that Democrats are lying when they accurately point out that prices are up. In a speech Tuesday night to Republican members of Congress, Trump delivered a series of inaccurate assertions on the subject of prices. He wrongly claimed that gas was selling Tuesday for below $2 a gallon 'in five different states' (it was actually zero states); that prices are 'all down' (consumer prices are up under Trump); that Democrats are lying when they say prices are up (these Democrats are correct); that grocery prices 'are down' (they are up under Trump); and that core inflation is 'below 2%' (it's 2.9%, per the Consumer Price Index). Here is a fact check. False. Of the tens of thousands of gas stations nationwide tracked by the company GasBuddy, there was not a single station offering gas for $1.99 per gallon or less on Tuesday, said Patrick De Haan, the company's head of petroleum analysis. (Some drivers get special discounts.) And no state had an average Tuesday gas price lower than Mississippi's $2.71 per gallon, according to data published by AAA. Trump has regularly claimed this year that two, three, or five states have sub-$2 gas, but CNN has never found any of these claims to be true. False. Grocery prices are up during this Trump presidency. Grocery prices in June were about 0.6% higher than they were in January, the month Trump was inaugurated, and about 2.4% higher than they were in June 2024, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data. Grocery prices did fall this April, as egg prices dropped sharply after a spike caused by an avian flu outbreak, but grocery prices then increased again in May and June. False. Regardless of anyone's opinion of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and interest rate policy, US prices are not 'all down'; in reality, prices have continued to increase during Trump's second presidency. As of June, overall consumer prices were about 2.7% higher than they were in June 2024, about 0.3% higher than they were in May 2025, and about 1.5% higher than they were in January 2025. Given this overall increase in prices since January, it's obvious that prices have gone up in various individual categories — so the president's suggestion that not a single price has increased is clearly untrue. It's important to note that it's normal for prices to rise over time; the Federal Reserve generally aims for 2% inflation over the long run. Trump could fairly say that inflation remains nowhere near the levels of 2022, when it briefly topped 9%, and that his new tariffs have not immediately caused a massive inflation spike. But Trump made a signature campaign pledge to immediately bring prices down, not to keep prices increasing at a moderate pace. Contrary to his claim on Tuesday, that promised decline hasn't happened. Nonsense. It's correct, not a lie, to say overall prices, grocery prices and food prices in general are up during this presidency. And though oil prices are down in world markets, the gasoline prices paid by US drivers have increased slightly since Trump returned to the White House. (They certainly aren't 'through the roof,' but Trump didn't identify the Democrats who supposedly claimed they are.) The national average price for a gallon of regular gas on Tuesday was about $3.14 per gallon, according to AAA data. That's up from about $3.12 per gallon on Trump's second inauguration day in January – though, as GasBuddy's De Haan noted to CNN, the national average is now lower than it was at this point on the calendar in every year since pandemic-era 2021. False. Core inflation is not below 2%. This measure, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, showed prices up about 2.9% in June compared with June 2024, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index data. Other oft-cited measures of core inflation are also above 2%. The most recent data from the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index showed core inflation up about 2.7% in May compared with May 2024, while the most recent data from the Producer Price Index showed core inflation up about 2.6% in June compared with June 2024. The accuracy of Trump's claim that core inflation is 'way down' depends on where you start the clock. The 2.9% Consumer Price Index core inflation rate in June 2025 was up from March, April and May (it was about 2.8% each of those months), but it was down from about 3.3% in January.
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
South Africa's inflation rises to 3.0% y/y in June, as expected
JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's headline consumer inflation rose to 3.0% year on year in June from 2.8% in May (ZACPIY=ECI), opens new tab, statistics agency data showed on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted inflation would increase to 3.0% in annual terms, at the bottom of the central bank's 3% to 6% target range. The South African Reserve Bank holds another rate-setting meeting next week. The bank has cut its repo rate (ZAREPO=ECI), opens new tab twice this year, including at its last meeting in May. In month-on-month terms inflation was at 0.3% in June, compared with 0.2% in May (ZACPI=ECI), opens new tab, Statistics South Africa said.
France 24
18-07-2025
- Business
- France 24
Japan rice prices double, raising pressure on PM
The price of the grain already rocketed 101 percent year-on-year in May, having jumped 98.4 percent in April and more than 92.5 percent in March. Overall, Japan's core inflation rate slowed to 3.3 percent in June from 3.7 percent in May, the data from the internal affairs ministry showed. The reading, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, was slightly below market expectations of 3.4 percent. Excluding energy and also fresh food, consumer prices rose 3.4 percent, compared with 3.3 percent in May. Public support for Ishiba's administration has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, partly because of frustration over the cost of living. One of the main sources of anger has been inflation and in particular the surging cost of rice, as well as scandals within the ruling party. The 68-year-old leader's coalition was deprived of a majority in the powerful lower house in October. It was the worst election result in 15 years for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955. Opinion polls ahead of Sunday's election suggest the ruling coalition may lose its majority in the upper house as well. This could force Ishiba to resign after less than a year in office. Tariff pressure He is under additional pressure to reach a trade deal with the United States before new tariffs of 25 percent take effect on August 1. Japan's important auto imports into the world's biggest economy are already subject to painful levies, as are steel and aluminium. US President Donald Trump wants to get Japanese firms to manufacture more in the United States, and Tokyo to buy more US goods -- notably gas and oil, cars and rice -- to reduce the $70 billion trade deficit with the Asian powerhouse. Ishiba, who has sent his trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa to Washington seven times to try and broker a deal, was due to host US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday. The Bank of Japan has been tightening monetary policy since last year as inflation crept up but worries about the impact of US tariffs on the world's number four economy has forced it to take a slower approach. Factors behind the rising price of rice include shortages due to an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide. Since then some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say. The issue was made worse by panic buying last year prompted by a government warning about a potential "megaquake" that did not strike. The government has taken the rare step of releasing its emergency stockpile since February, which it typically only ever did during disasters. © 2025 AFP
