Japan's core consumer price index climbed to a two-year high in April of 0.3 per cent, as costs for energy rose.
Economists said the increase reported Friday was not likely to persist and that prices for imported consumer goods actually fell. Inflation has been positive in recent months but well below the government's 2 per cent target.
Core inflation excluding volatile food prices rose 0.3 per cent from a year earlier in April, just above the rate in March. Inflation excluding both fresh foods and energy was up 0.1 per cent, while energy costs rose by 4.5 per cent.
The government said the cost of gasoline surged 15 per cent and the cost of kerosene jumped 28 per cent, as U.S. benchmark crude oil rose from about $40 a barrel a year ago to about $49 today.
Crude oil prices fell overnight by 5 per cent after oil producing nations opted to extend a six-month production increase freeze by another nine months, a shorter extension than had been expected.
"Headline inflation," which includes both fresh food and energy costs, rose 0.4 per cent from a year earlier and 0.1 per cent from March, the report said.
Energy inflation will likely peak in the July-September quarter and then weaken, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary.
Since wage growth remains weak, cost pressures are not strong enough to sustain stronger inflation.
"The upshot is that headline inflation is unlikely to rise much further from now on," Thieliant said.
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