Japan's core consumer prices down by 0.5% in July

Tokyo

THE Bank of Japan's (BOJ) highly elusive inflation target slipped further out of range on Friday when it was announced that Japanese core consumer prices fell by 0.5 per cent in July compared with the level a year earlier - marking the fastest fall in more than three years and the fifth consecutive month of declines.

Along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic growth targets of 3 per cent annually in nominal terms and 2 per cent in real terms, the BOJ's 2 per cent annual inflation goal is looking increasingly like a mirage, analysts said, adding that the credibility of "Abenomics" is waning.