A majority of Japanese consumers expect prices to rise a year from now, a government survey showed on Wednesday, in a fresh sign that deflation, which has plagued the country for six years, may be on the way out. The Cabinet Office's consumer confidence survey for April, which also included a new price outlook survey, showed that over 60 percent of respondents expected prices a year from now to rise between zero and two percent.
Some 38.2 percent expected price changes to be flat, while 26.0 percent saw a rise of less than two percent. Recent government figures have shown that consumer prices continued to fall in March and April, though many economists and officials have noted the possibility of Japan returning to inflation by 2005. Wednesday's survey also showed that consumer confidence improved in April, with the sentiment index rising by 2.7 points to 45.4, the highest level since September 1996. The survey also replaced its sub-index on price movements with one on growth in asset prices, which showed a gain of 2.3 points at 45.3.///