The Bank of Japan to Release Monthly Inflation New Indicator, Aimed at Providing Basis for Its Rate Hike Stance

**BOJ Launches Monthly Core CPI Reference Index Amid Inflation Confusion** March 26 – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced it will begin publishing monthly data to gauge core CPI starting this month. The new metric, titled the *Core CPI Reference Index*, will be released at 2 p.m. local time on the second business day following Japan’s official CPI release. Investinglive analyst Justin Low noted that against the backdrop of the BOJ’s prior moves, the central bank faced widespread skepticism over confusion in Japan’s inflation figures. Japan’s February core CPI annual rate dipped below the key 2% threshold, yet the BOJ remains committed to its tight monetary policy. The BOJ aims to present evidence that underlying inflationary pressures are still robust, arguing government measures like energy subsidies have artificially suppressed CPI figures. Thus, the newly launched index will offer a “denoised” read on inflation—largely to demonstrate to the public and markets that its monetary policy remains on course. That said, the move could also be interpreted as mild pushback against the government’s stance: Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has called for the BOJ to keep current interest rates unchanged.