BOJ to introduce new consumption index - Reuters

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced this Monday that it will introduce a broad index of private consumption in addition to the government's existing monthly household spending data series, Reuters reports.

The new index will measure the strength of consumer spending based on supply-side data, such as retail sales and surveys on corporate business activity, and would have a strong correlation to consumer sentiment surveys and Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) data, BOJ added.

The BOJ will begin releasing the new index this month.