Japan Consumer Prices:

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0006369779

Article:

TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan’s annual core consumer inflation picked up only slightly in January, keeping the Bank of Japan under pressure to maintain its massive monetary stimulus to support a fragile economy saddled with weak growth and prices.

Stubbornly tame inflation is a worry for the world’s third-largest economy as it grapples with a coronavirus outbreak and weak growth. The Bank of Japan is in no mood to top up its already huge monetary stimulus, fearing it would have little ammunition to battle the next financial crisis.

Comments:

Consumer prices or overall inflation has always bee a concern with the Bank of Japan, or at least the last five or ten years.

Inflation or the lack thereof, might be an obsession with the BOJ. But what needs to be considered, whether true or not true, is that the lack of significant or the inflation of 2% that the BOJ seems to target might not be normal for the Japanese economy, as maybe, because of the overall structure of the economy now, meaning a definite trend toward older citizens and other citizens in the economy worried about this or that, that the kind of consumer spending that the BOJ wants or needs may never be there.

The Bank of Japan, the last month or so has repeatedly said it doesn't have the ammunition now to as it needs to keep, whatever it has, for the next financial crisis.

Well that might be here in one way or another with the virus situation.

Article:

However, BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has said he would consider additional easing if the coronavirus outbreak significantly threatens Japan’s economy and inflation, calling the flu-like virus the “biggest uncertainty” for the economy.

The core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 0.8% in the year to January, led by gasoline costs, Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry data showed. That followed a 0.7% gain in December and matched economists’ median estimate.Speech

Comments:

Core inflation might rise because of core supply costs or might rise because of increased demand. It looks like in this case gasoline prices, which are always changing.

I think the virus situation has moved from uncertainty to certainty in that it is now a potential crisis situation for the economy, if consumers decide to continue to stay home and not spend as they normally do.

But, a little humor, the hording of certain products; tissues, paper products etc. might be good for some industries but not good overall for the general population.

Speaking of hording, what is the reason or need to horde paper type products, when, supposedly 90% of paper products are made in Japan and not in China.

The idea of hording, now it seems in the US, I guess the fear of the unknown or the uncertainty of a situation, when you don't all the facts about something. So I guess we let our fear get the best of us and we become irrational.

The only thing I see being horded in South Korea right now is face masks of course, but I don't see the hording of tissue or paper products etc.

Then of course, as reported about Amazon, you get a lot of fake products, fake claims, and of course unreal prices. Amazon seems to be doing a good job in eliminating fake products and especially those with fake claims and unreal prices.

Lets hope Japan can monitor and keep up with any products that are fake and prices that are too unreal in the virus situation.

© 2020, Tom Metts, all rights reserved