However, with worries about the global outlook and U.S. tariffs growing, it paused at the start of 2025, with the last increase in January taking rates to their highest level in 17 years.
The inflation figures for November showed rice prices jumped 37 percent year-on-year, the internal affairs ministry said.
The cost of rice has skyrocketed because of supply problems linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, amongst other factors.
Japan’s economy contracted 0.6 percent in the third quarter, but BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda said last week that the impact of U.S. tariffs was less than feared.
“So far, U.S. corporates have swallowed the burden of tariffs without fully passing (them) through to consumer prices,” he told the Financial Times.
