TOKYO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the 24th straight month the index has remained above the central bank's 2 percent inflation target, government data showed Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food, dipped 0.2 percentage points from the reading in February, due to a slowdown in food price hikes.

Prices of food excluding perishables climbed 4.6 percent, slowing from February's 5.3 percent gain, while price growth for durable goods slowed to 1.9 percent from 3.5 percent, data showed.

The effects of government subsidies aimed at curbing utility bills have started to wear off, with energy prices down 0.6 percent.

Seen as an indicator of underlying inflation, core-core CPI, which strips away both energy and fresh food, rose 2.9 percent after increasing 3.2 percent in February, slipping below 3 percent for the first time since November 2022.

For fiscal 2023 through March, core CPI grew 2.8 percent, making it the second successive year that the key gauge of inflation remained above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent goal, although the pace of increase slowed from 3.0 percent in fiscal 2022. Enditem

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