Japan Inflation Surges on Weak Yen and Middle East War

Inflation in Japan picked up last month as the Middle East war and a weak yen pushed up prices, according to official data released on Friday.

The core inflation rate excluding food accelerated to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent, while stripping out energy prices, inflation rose to 1.9 percent from 1.7 percent.

A weak yen increases the cost of imports like oil and food for resource-poor Japan, but it also helps big Japanese exporters such as Toyota and Sony.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has moved to shield consumers from sharp rises in oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict with fuel and energy subsidies.