Japan will not include new cellphone fees in CPI

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) The Japanese government said on Friday it will not incorporate into its consumer price data the new, cheaper fees that mobile phone operators plan to introduce next month.

The government's calculation of the consumer price index includes the cheapest available cellphone plan offered by carriers.

The new fee systems set to be introduced by KDDI and Softbank cannot be considered the cheapest plans for now, the government said in explaining the reason for not including them in the CPI.

While the decision was widely expected, economists had said that the new price plans, if included, could slash the core consumer price rise by as much as 0.3 percentage point.

REUTERS SZ VP0523