By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s core consumer prices rose 2.7% in the year to August, data showed on Friday, staying above the central bank’s 2% goal but marking the slowest pace in nine months in a sign households are getting some respite from rising living costs.

The data will be among factors the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will scrutinise at its two-day meeting that ends on Friday, when the board is widely expected to keep interest rates steady at 0.5%.

The increase in the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes fuel costs, matched a median market forecast and slowed from a 3.1% year-on-year rise in July.

An index stripping away both volatile and fresh food and fuel costs, which is more closely watched by the BOJ as a better gauge of under

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