Fast Retailing, the owner of Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo, is taking it back to 2014. It will raise prices on some goods this autumn to compensate for cost pressures from the weak yen. The business tried something similar eight years ago, so we already know the ending to this story.
Prices on fleece goods and down jackets for fall and winter will rise by ¥1,000 ($7.50). Fast Retailing is reacting to surging consumer prices in Japan driven by a falling yen and spiralling energy costs. The decline in the currency, which is at a 20-year low against the dollar, shows little signs of slowing.
Japan’s unwillingness to raise rates to restrain inflation makes it an outlier among developed economies. The Japanese benchmark yield of 0.24 per cent compares to the US 10 year’s 3 per cent.