Japan shifting to wage-driven inflation phase, finance minister says

By Leika Kihara TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuters) Japan s economy is seeing price rises driven by higher import costs and on the cusp of shifting ​to a period of sustained inflation driven ‌by rising wages, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Wednesday. The government s scheduled consumption tax cut and payouts are aimed at cushioning the blow to households from rising living costs, Katayama told ‌parliament. We ​are exchanging views with the ⁠Bank of Japan on ⁠various fronts. I see no gap between the view of the government and that of the BOJ, Katayama said when asked by a lawmaker whether ​the government s tax cut plan could conflict with the central bank s efforts to combat inflation with ⁠interest rate hikes. The BOJ raised ⁠interest rates to a 31-year high of ​1.25% in September, as the Iran war-induced energy shock, ​strong global AI demand and higher import costs ‌from a weak yen heighten the risk of underlying inflation overshooting its 2% target. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi