TOKYO, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.8 percent in August from a year earlier, increasing faster for the fourth straight month on higher rice prices and energy costs, government data showed Friday.

The increase in the nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 2.7 percent rise in July, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The inflation rate has remained at or above the 2 percent inflation target of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) since April 2022, data showed.

The core-core CPI, which excludes both fresh food and energy costs and is closely watched by the BOJ as a key gauge of broader inflation trends, was up 2.0 percent, data showed.

Prices for rice, a Japanese staple, surged 28.3 percent, the biggest increase in nearly 49 years, due to short supply following last year's hot summer and higher demand from restaurants, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, electricity costs and city gas prices advanced 26.2 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively, as the government's measures to bear part of the rising energy costs ended in June. Enditem

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