Soaring costs hit life in Japan

Surging prices are not limited to products derived from crude oil. Prices of agricultural products like wheat, along with mineral resources such as iron and precious metals, are also picking up rapidly in pace with soaring prices in international markets. Costlier commodities are now beginning to push up prices of a wide range of basic necessities.

We probably have to brace ourselves for long-term upward trends in energy and food prices across the globe.

Despite all the buzz about price hikes, the consumer price index rose by only 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier. The prices of many consumer durables, including digital home appliances, actually declined due to technological breakthroughs and weak consumer spending.