Overview
- Japan’s economy ministry said the national average for regular gasoline fell to ¥170.20 per liter, meeting the government’s target after it restarted payments to oil wholesalers.
- The subsidy rate will rise to ¥49.80 per liter, the highest since the program began in 2022, which lowers wholesale costs that feed into pump prices.
- Prices dropped for a second straight week, and every prefecture saw declines, with Okinawa highest at ¥181.20 and Saitama lowest at ¥162.50.
- The government first used about ¥280 billion from an existing fund and then added roughly ¥800 billion from fiscal 2025 contingency money to keep the program running.
- By contrast, AAA reported the U.S. average for regular gasoline at about $4.02 a gallon, the first move above $4 since August 2022, as war risks in Ukraine and the Middle East lift oil and strain household budgets before elections.