Prices at discount stores double or more as cost pressures become critical issue ahead of upper house elections next month
Japan
With rising prices now affecting staples such as instant ramen and sushi, the cost of living crisis is emerging as most important issue in upper house elections due next month.Executives at 100-yen stores, where each item traditionally costs the equivalent of 60 pence, believe rising prices represent an existential threat to the ¥1tn sector.
In addition to rising raw material prices, the yen this week fell to a 24-year against the US dollar, driving the cost of the 90% of items the chain imports even higher. In response, the store has been forced to sell selected items for ¥200 or more.Households already reeling from the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic pay 50% more for cooking oil than they did a year ago, and almost a third more for mayonnaise, according to the analysis company True Data.
In addition, nearly three-quarters of restaurant operators plan to raise prices in the current fiscal year, passing on the rising cost of ingredients to customers, a Nikkei business newspaper survey found. During a televised election debate on Tuesday, Kishida said price hikes in Japan had not been as dramatic as those in the US and Europe.
People struggling to get by on shrinking household budgets accused the head of the central bank, which this week opted to keep ultra-low interest rates, of being out of touch.
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