Consumer prices in Japan rose 3.2 per cent in April from a year earlier, after a sales-tax increase, the government said Friday. The figure represented the 11th straight month of increase, dpa quoted Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as saying. The core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, stood at 103 against a base of 100 for 2010, the ministry said. The government raised the sales tax to 8 per cent on April 1 from 5 per cent for the first hike in 17 years.
