Turning to price developments, expected inflation rates have increased as a whole, according to market indicators and various surveys. The break-even inflation rate (BEI) has increased to close to 1.7 percent, from around 0.70 a year ago.
In the Opinion Survey on the General Public’s Views and Behavior conducted by the BoJ, in which consumers are asked their views on the inflation rate one year from now, the proportion of consumers who answered that prices would increase was just over 50 percent in the last December survey, but increased to above 80 percent in the September survey.