AFP, Tokyo :
Japanese inflation rose slightly in August, with prices up 2.8 percent year-on-year, official data showed Friday, hours before the Bank of Japan was widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
The core Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, followed a reading of 2.7 percent in July and was in line with market expectations.
Later Friday the BoJ was forecast to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged, with all 53 economists polled by Bloomberg News predicting that borrowing costs will be left at 0.25 percent.
On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve cut its key lending rate by half a percentage-point in its first reduction since the pandemic, sharply lowering borrowing costs shortly before November’s presidential election.