TOKYO, May 22, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Japan's core inflation slowed to 1.4 percent in April, government data showed Friday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi considers further measures to drive down costs linked to the Middle East war.

The year-on-year rise in consumer prices, which excludes volatile fresh food, eased from 1.8 percent in March and was lower than market expectations of 1.7 percent.

The data comes as Takaichi rushes to draft an extra budget to deal with rising prices stemming from the Middle East conflict that has squeezed flows of oil from the region.

However, gasoline prices fell in April after the government began an emergency subsidy programme the previous month to drive down the cost, and motorists also benefited from a tax cut.

Japan relies on imported oil, much of it from the Middle East, to power the economy.

Crude oil imports from the region in April dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, while other energy and related products from the Middle East also plunged, according to government data released Thursday.

Takaichi is expected to approve a plan next week to spend 500 billion yen ($3.1 billion) from the reserve fund in the form of subsidies to offset rising electricity and gas bills, local media said.

She has refrained discussing the expected size of the budget, only saying that she was considering taking steps before the rising price pressure spins out of control.

A key opposition leader has suggested that an extra budget could be worth up to three trillion yen.

"I would like to consider a supplementary budget bill designed primarily to address the current situation in the Middle East and related issues, in case we are unable to respond (effectively)," Takaichi told the legislature on Wednesday, when asked about offering fuel and energy subsidies particularly during summer.

The government said this week that the Japanese economy grew 0.5 percent during the first quarter, exceeding the market's expectations.

But analysts have warned that the data did not reflect the Iran war, and Tokyo is likely to feel severe economic pressure in the going forward.