Price data boosts Japan's deflation battle

(MENAFN- AFP) Japan logged its first annual rise in consumer prices for five years in 2013, official data showed Friday, a boost for the government in its battle against stubborn deflation.But surging post-Fukushima energy costs largely drove the rise, underlining the challenge still facing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is bidding to reverse years of falling prices and kickstart growth in the world's third-largest economy.Key to that drive is the Bank of Japan's ambitious 2.0 percent inflation target, the cornerstone of efforts to turn around an economy beset by weak consumer spending and tepid business investment.The broad consumer price index, which measures a basket of everyday goods but excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose 0.4 percent last year, the first annual increase since a 1.5 percent rise in 2008.In December alone, prices were up 1.3 percent year-on-year.In another positive sign, separate data showed that spending by Japan's households was up last month as the nation's factories expanded their output, while the unemployment rate hit a six-year low.But the upbeat headline for Friday's data was tempered by the fact that all-important consumer prices were largely driven up by higher fuel bills rather than surging demand for everyday goods. Prices excluding both food and energy slipped 0.2 percent.