— BOJ: Japan Sep Consumer Sentiment Index -43.1 Vs June -39.5
— BOJ: More People Expect Prices in Japan to Rise in 12 Months
TOKYO (MNI) – Japanese consumer sentiment worsened for the first
time in four quarters in September as the number of people who said
their incomes fell from a year earlier increased, according to the
results of the Bank of Japan’s quarterly survey released on Monday.
The consumer sentiment diffusion index fell by 3.6 points to -43.1
in September after surging by 16.1 points to -39.5 in June. The level
was still much better than -55.6 in March and -57.5 in last December.
The diffusion index subtracts the number of consumers who say
economic conditions are worse than they were a year ago from those who
say they have improved.
The survey also showed that the share of respondents who expect
Japanese prices to rise in the next year increased to 61.8% in September
from 56.4% in June while 5.8% of those polled said prices will fall in
the next year, down from 6.5% three months earlier.
The number of people saying prices will be little changed 12 months
ahead dropped to 31.2% from 35.6%.
Looking five years ahead, 78.0% of the surveyed said prices will
rise, up from 73.5% three months earlier, while 7.0% of the respondents
expect prices to fall, up from 6.8% in June.
The results indicate that the public’s long-term inflation
expectations remain relatively well anchored.
The survey from Aug. 9 to Sept. 4 polled 4,000 people aged 20 years
or older, with 2,199, or 55.0%, valid responses received.
tokyo@mni-news.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-6860-4822 **
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