MNI BRIEF: BOJ Survey: More Households Suffer From High Prices

The proportion of respondents expecting prices to rise next year stood at 87.1% in June, from 84.3% in March, showing that more households are suffering from high prices, the Bank of Japan’s quarterly consumer survey released on Wednesday showed.

Just 1.5% of respondents said prices would decline, and those expecting little change fell to 9.7%. The median CPI forecast stood at +5.0%, unchanged from +5.0% in March. Looking five years ahead, 79.8% said prices would rise, down from 82.1% three months earlier. The median forecast stayed at +5.0%, See: MNI INSIGHT: BOJ Likely To Up Price View, But Policy Unchanged).

The diffusion index to gauge households' sentiment on economic conditions rose 3.1 points to -50.7 in June, the survey showed. The consumer sentiment outlook index projecting conditions a year ahead fell for the first time in two quarters, down 11.6 points to -28.7 in June.