REPEAT: MNI 5 THINGS: Japan July CPI Slow on Telecom Discounts

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 05:34 GMT Aug 24/01:34 EST Aug 24

--Japan July Core CPI +0.8% Y/Y; MNI Median +0.9%; June +0.8%

--Japan July Core-Core CPI +0.3% Y/Y; June +0.2% 

--Japan July CPI Energy Costs +7.3% Y/Y; June +7.3% 

--Japan July CPI Food Ex-Perishables +0.8% Y/Y; June +0.7% 

--Japan July CPI Household Durable Goods -2.1% Y/Y; June -2.9% 

--Japan July CPI Overseas Holiday Tours +4.0% Y/Y; June +11.7%

     TOKYO (MNI) - Consumer inflation in Japan stagnated in July as mobile

carrier discounts offset recent markups in beer prices at restaurants and bars

as well as higher snack prices, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and

Communication released Friday showed.

     The key points from the latest CPI data:

     -- The national average core consumer price index (excluding fresh food)

rose 0.8% on year in July for the 19th straight year-on-year rise, with the pace

of increase unchanged from June, when it rose from 0.7% in May.

     - The total CPI rose 0.9% on year in July, picking up from the 0.7% rise in

June in the wake of major rain storms that damaged crops in southwestern Japan.

     -- The underlying inflation rate measured by the core-core CPI (excluding

fresh food and energy) rose 0.3% on year in July, accelerating from +0.2% in

June and 0.3% in May. It was the 13th consecutive year-on-year rise.

     -- The CPI was weighed down by lower mobile communications charges, down

6.7% on year in July (vs. -6.7% in June), due to the base-year effect that

continued through July. Last August, a major carrier changed fee structures,

giving discounts to low data volume users. In addition to this, another leading

carrier began offering discounts in June this year.

     -- The prices for overseas holiday tours rose 4.0% in July, with the pace

of year-on-year increase decelerating sharply from +11.7% in June. The prices

for household durable goods were down 2.1% on year in July after -2.9% in the

previous month.

     -- On the upside, processed food prices rose 0.8% on year in July, up from

+0.7% in June in light of technical markups for potato chips.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com