Japan: Price pressures in August likely edged in the wrong direction - BBH

Research Team at BBH, suggests that in Japan, price pressures in August likely edged in the wrong direction as the headline CPI is expected to have slipped to -0.5% from -0.4%. 

Key Quotes

“If so, it will match the lowest of this year.  Excluding food and energy, prices may have eased to 0.2% from 0.3%.  That would be a nearly three-year low print.  Household spending continues to fall on a year-over-year basis.  The 2.2% decline expected in August follows a 0.5% decline in July and would match the average over the past two years (24 months). 

One bright spot for Japan will be industrial output.  It is expected to have risen 0.5% in August after a 0.4% decline in July.  A positive reading on a year-over-year basis would only be the second such reading of the year.”