Japan's consumer prices edged up 0.9 percent in January, government data showed Friday, but inflation was still far below a longstanding target. Japan has notched up eight straight quarters of economic growth - the longest positive run since the "bubble" boom days of the late 1980s. But it has struggled to achieve the 2.0 percent inflation rate thought crucial to boosting the world's third-largest economy. Government data released Friday showed the core inflation rate stood at 0.9 percent in January, the same pace as the previous two months.
That was largely in line with market expectations of a 0.8 percent rise in prices, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. When volatile fresh food and energy were stripped out, prices rose by even less - just 0.4 percent in January, the ministry said.
Japan has battled deflation for many years and the central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy appears to be having limited impact. The bank has signalled it has no plans to drop the policy, despite moves in that direction in other major economies.