Rising Oil Prices Threaten Takaichi’s Agenda, Says Monex’s Koll

Rising oil prices risk delivering a fresh inflation shock to Japan, complicating Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures, according to Monex Group’s Jesper Koll.

If crude trades in a $100 to $120 per barrel range in the coming months, it would amount to a “supply shock” that could add close to half a percentage point to Japan’s consumer inflation, said Koll, expert director at the Tokyo-based firm, in a Bloomberg TV interview Monday. Bloomberg Economics estimates that crude may go to $108 per barrel if the Iran conflict intensifies, more oil infrastructure is struck and the Strait of Hormuz is closed.