Consumer price growth in Japan slowed down in April for the second consecutive month, showing a small portion of the inflationary impulse needed to reach the central bank’s elusive target of 2%. The weaker performance of inflation in April was particularly undesirable from the Japanese Central Bank (Bank of Japan), which hoped companies would raise their prices early in the new financial year.

The slowdown, which became apparent shortly after the first quarter data, shows that the economy may have reached its peak and may discourage central bankers from indicating an intention to end the ultra-monetary monetary policy.

The broad depression of price pressure in April highlights that the Central Bank of Japan will not be able to tighten monetary policy soon.

The analysts expect the GDP growth to slow this year, suggesting that capacity shortages will not grow further.

The main consumer price index, which includes petroleum products but not volatile fresh food, rose by 0.7% in April on an annual basis, slightly below the median 0.8% market expectations.

The data also follows a moderate growth of 0.9% in March, indicating a second consecutive month of slowdown despite the rise in oil prices lately, raising electricity and gas bills. The rate of increase in the index, which removes the impact of both fresh products and energy costs, has slowed down to 0.4% from 0.5% in March.

The downward pressure is particularly strong among retailers from the mass market because of customers who are well tracking their costs. The Japanese economy shrank more than expected at the beginning of the year, suggesting that its growth peaked after the longest expansion of the decade. While analysts expect growth to recover in the current quarter, any signal that the economy is hitting the brakes may further lower market expectations for a break from loose monetary policy.

Last month, the BoJ dropped its timeframe to reach its target price, and Governor Haruhiko Kuroda admitted that meeting inflation expectations would take some time.