File photo: VCG

TOKYO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose from a year earlier in March, although the rate of increase slowed owing to the prices for crude oil falling due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, core consumer prices increased 0.4 percent in March from a year earlier, with the core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food items, increasing for a 39th successive month.

The latest increase comes on the heels of a 0.6 percent rise logged in February, the statistics bureau's data showed.

Following a 4.8 percent jump in gasoline prices booked in February, prices slowed to 0.4 percent in the recording period due to a price conflict between major producers and falling demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry indicated.

A ministry official was quoted as saying that crude oil prices fell sharply in April and the decline could have a knock-on effect on Japan's consumer prices.

In addition, the official said that the coronavirus pandemic could see prices pushed up for certain items, while demand could fall for others and, as such, price movements would be closely watched by the ministry.

In terms of travel-related prices, those for accommodation retreated 1.4 percent owing to a sharp fall in visitors coming to Japan in the reporting period amid the pandemic.

Those for package tours, meanwhile, tumbled almost 6 percent due to falling patronage from South Korean visitors amid strained ties with Japan and as fuel prices for aircraft dropped, the ministry also said.

Prices edged up 0.1 percent in March, when not factoring in the effects of Japan's consumption tax hike from 8 to 10 percent last October as well as a free education program for preschoolers and nursery-aged children, the statistics bureau said.

Core CPI increased 0.6 percent for fiscal 2019 ended in March, marking the third successive year of increase, although slowed from an increase of 0.8 percent booked in the previous year, the ministry also said.