Tokyo inflation eases as energy costs cool ahead of election

Inflation in Tokyo slowed for the first time in four months as energy price gains eased and the municipal government waived some water charges for households ahead of a national election likely to center on the cost-of-living crunch.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% in the capital in June from a year earlier, according to a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications release Friday. The median economist forecast was for a 3.3% gain. Overall inflation also came to 3.1%, slowing from 3.4% in May.

That still keeps price gains well above the Bank of Japan’s price goal of 2%, leaving the central bank on track to mull the timing of its next interest rate hike once uncertainties over global trade have cleared.