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Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Tokyo prices rising most in two years, keeps BOJ on hike path
PRICES in Tokyo jumped the most in two years on surging food costs, keeping the Bank of Japan on track for another rate hike in coming months. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.6 per cent in the capital in May from a year earlier, accelerating from 3.4 per cent in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Friday. The increase, which outpaced economists' median forecast of a 3.5 per cent gain, was the biggest since January 2023. Overall inflation came to 3.4 per cent, matching a revised 3.4 per cent in April. The readings were partly distorted by policy-related factors, including the fading impact of last year's school fee cuts. While Tokyo's CPI figures serve as a leading indicator for national inflation trends, the high school subsidies were in effect only in the capital. A main driver in the latest figures was prices for foods other than fresh produce, for which gains accelerated to 6.9 per cent from 6.4 per cent in the previous month. Gains in rice prices held roughly steady at 93.7 per cent. Food price hikes 'have pushed down real wages, which is negative for the economy. From a monetary policy perspective, the BOJ likely views it as stronger than on track,' said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Against the backdrop of recent trends, the latest price data will likely keep the BOJ on track for another rate increase in coming months. Figures last week showed that national inflation has stayed at or above the BOJ's 2 per cent target for three years, and Governor Kazuo Ueda said this week that the bank is closer to achieving its target than at any other time in the last three decades. The BOJ warned of potential spillover effects from hot prices for food in its latest Outlook, saying, 'With regard to the recent rise in food prices, such as rice prices, even when price rises themselves mainly result from weather conditions, attention is warranted on the possibility that these rises may induce second-round effects on underlying CPI inflation through changes in household sentiment and inflation expectations.' The BOJ next sets policy at the end of a two-day meeting on June 17, when it's widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged while updating guidance on plans to scale back its government bond purchases. Markets anticipate the bank will continue its gradual quantitative tightening beyond April 2026. The food price gains are a worrisome sign for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of a summer election expected to be held by July. Persistent increases in living costs have fueled public discontent in Japan, weighing heavily on support for Ishiba, whose approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he took office in October. A majority of surveyed respondents cited economic issues as their top concern. Newly appointed Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has pledged to halve the price of the staple grain to around 2,000 yen per 5 kg. To achieve this, the government is in the process of releasing 300,000 tons of stockpiled rice into the market at a fixed wholesale price of about 10,000 yen per 60 kg. Market participants have responded favourably to initial steps on that front. The government has also taken other steps to soothe voters, unveiling a 900 billion yen stimulus package this week that will be funded through existing budget allocations and reserve funds. The package includes the reinstatement of utility subsidies from July through September. Energy prices weighed on the CPI gauge in May, with electricity price growth slowing to 10.8 per cent from 13.1 per cent. Service price growth picked up to 2.2 per cent. The data are in line with the central bank's assessment in its latest Outlook that the economy has recovered moderately with pockets of weakness. A key risk obscuring the economic outlook remains US trade policies. Ishiba and President Donald Trump spoke by phone for the second time in a week on Thursday as Japan's premier pressed his case for exemptions from tariffs. Japan currently faces a 25 per cent tariff on cars, steel, and aluminum, alongside a 10 per cent levy on all other goods that's set to rise to 24 per cent in early July barring a trade agreement. Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa will meet with his US counterparts in Washington later Friday. Questions over the tariffs could deter the BOJ from hiking rates in the near term, according to Maruyama. 'Just because inflation is on track doesn't automatically mean the bank can raise interest rates — it still needs to assess tariff impacts,' he said. 'Prices being on track is definitely a necessary condition, but I don't think it's enough on its own to determine the timing of a decision.' Reflecting early signs of business anxiety, Japan's industrial production fell 0.9 per cent in April from the previous month, according to the Industry Ministry. Economists had estimated a 1.4 per cent decline. Manufacturers expect a 9 per cent gain in output this month. In other data on Friday, the jobless rate stood at 2.5 per cent in April, the same as in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The job-to-applicant ratio held at 1.26, meaning there were 126 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, the Labor Ministry reported separately. Continued labour-market tightness is expected to keep upward pressure on wages as firms compete to hire and retain workers. That could help sustain a virtuous cycle of wage and price growth — a central aim of both the government and the BOJ as they pursue their respective policy strategies. Household sentiment remains fragile amid inflation and economic uncertainty. A separate report from the Industry Ministry showed that retail sales rose 0.5 per cent in April from the previous month. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Russian Police Arrest Suspect in $3.2M Illegal Mining Operation: Report
Russia police arrested a person alleged to have been involved in a crypto mining scam that stole 270 million rubles ($3.2 million) from 100 victims, RBC reported, citing a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Irkutsk Region. A local resident called the police in February to say he handed an ASIC mining machine to someone claiming that they were running a "mining hotel," with the promise of passive income. The 26-year-old suspect and two accomplices are alleged to have sold the equipment they received and also to have kept funds handed over the purchase of other mining machines. The police opened a criminal case of fraud against the suspect and continue to question the victims. The other members of the mining group are still wanted by authorities, the statement said. A similar case occurred in 2022 when two people stole 2 million rubles after offering local citizens a fake mining hosting scheme.
AsiaOne
5 days ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang, World News
SEOUL — Russia's Vice Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Shulika and Ri Song-chol, North Korea's vice minister of public security, held a meeting to discuss expanding co-operation and exchange, state media reported on Thursday (May 29). The meeting was held on Wednesday in Pyongyang, KCNA reported. Officials from North Korea's Ministry of Public Security and Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as those from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang attended the meeting, the report added. A delegation led by Shulika arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, KCNA reported earlier this week. [[nid:716437]]
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang SEOUL - Russia's Vice Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Shulika and Ri Song Chol, North Korea's vice minister of public security, held a meeting to discuss expanding cooperation and exchange, state media reported on Thursday. The meeting was held on Wednesday in Pyongyang, KCNA reported. Officials from North Korea's Ministry of Public Security and Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as those from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang attended the meeting, the report added. A delegation led by Shulika arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, KCNA reported earlier this week. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New York Post
6 days ago
- New York Post
Ex-flight attendant caught smuggling 100 lbs. of deadly new drug made of human bones faces decades in prison
A former flight attendant caught smuggling over 100 pounds of a deadly new synthetic drug made of human bones faces up to 25 years in a Sri Lankan prison. Charlotte May Lee, 21, from the United Kingdom, was seized at Bandaranaike Airport in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo earlier this month after allegedly carrying suitcases full of 'kush,' a new drug originating in West Africa which kills an estimated dozen people a week in Sierra Leone alone. Lee, from south London, claimed the drug stash — which has a reported street value of $3.3 million — was planted in her suitcases without her knowledge, her lawyer, Sampath Perera, told the BBC. She is being held in harsh conditions in a jail north of Colombo where she has to sleep on a concrete floor, though Perera said she's been in contact with her family. 7 The haul made on May 12 is the biggest seizure of the relatively new drug in Sri Lankan history. Customs officers posed proudly with the stash, which could land Lee a 25-year prison sentence if she is found guilty of smuggling. Lee had been working in Thailand when she was forced to leave because her 30-day visa was due to run out, so she decided to take a three-hour flight to Sri Lanka while she waited for the renewal of her Thai visa, her lawyer said. 7 'I had never seen them [the drugs] before. I didn't expect it all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff,' Lee told the Daily Mail from prison. She also implied she knew who had 'planted' the drugs in her suitcases, but wouldn't name them. 7 'They must have planted it then,' she said. 'I know who did it.' Kush, which is most popular with young men, can cause individuals to fall asleep while walking, collapse unexpectedly and even wander into moving traffic. 7 One of the drug's many ingredients is reportedly human bones, and the insatiable desire for the substance has even led to ghoulish grave robbers raiding cemeteries in Sierra Leone. The country's president declared a state of emergency over abuse of kush last year, while security has reportedly been tightened in graveyards to stop the digging up of skeletons. 7 Branding kush a 'death trap,' Sierra Leone's President, Julius Maada Bio, said the drug posed an 'existential crisis' to his nation. Lee flew out of Bangkok around the same time as another young British woman now facing drug smuggling charges. 7 Bella Culley, from County Durham, northeast England, was arrested in the former Soviet nation of Georgia on May 10 after allegedly flying to the capital, Tbilisi, via the United Arab Emirates with more than 30 pounds of marijuana and hashish in her luggage. She is accused of 'illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia,' the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement earlier this year. 7 Sri Lankan authorities have warned of a huge increase in drugs arriving in the country via Bangkok. 'Another passenger who had left Bangkok airport, almost at the same time, was arrested in another country. We arrested this lady [Lee] based on profiling,' a senior Sri Lanka customs officer told the BBC. 'This has been a rule nuisance,' he added, referring to the drug scourge.
