As for the outlook, I think that there is not much room for these indicators, which are intended to capture the underlying trend in prices, to see a further rise in their year-on-year rates of increase, given that (1) the effects of the depreciation of the yen on a year-on-year basis have almost run their course; (2) materials prices and the producer price index (PPI), both of which represent upstream prices, have been on a clear declining trend; (3) upward pressure on prices stemming from the output gap is not, in my opinion, likely to increase noticeably; and (4) the rise in medium- to long-term inflation expectations seems to have paused.
Furthermore, my impression is that plans to raise sales prices of food and daily necessities – which many firms announced at around the beginning of 2015 – are not so common this year. Therefore, I believe that there is a risk that the year-on-year rates of increase in these indicators around the April-June quarter of 2016 will come in somewhat lower than expected.