News Summary

• Japan's economy is on the cusp of shifting to a period of sustained inflation driven by rising wages, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.
• The government's scheduled consumption tax cut and payouts are aimed at cushioning the blow to households from rising living costs.
• The BOJ raised interest rates to a 31-year high of 1.25 per cent 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 per cent target.