Japan June core inflation seen at 1.6% on elevated energy prices: Reuters poll

TOKYO, July 17 : Japan's core consumer inflation probably picked up in June from the previous month due to elevated energy prices, as well as technical factors including revisions to medical service fees, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.With price pressures from the Middle East conflict not expected to abate anytime soon, the outcome would likely strengthen the case for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates further.The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which includes energy items but excludes fresh food prices, was forecast to have risen 1.6 per cent in June from a year earlier, a poll of 16 economists showed. That would mark an acceleration from May's 1.4 per cent, but would keep inflation below the BOJ's 2 per cent target for a fifth straight month."Although food inflation