TOKYO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices gained 0.9 percent in March from a year earlier, government data showed here Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the 0.9 percent rise in the recording month follows a 1.0 percent gain logged in February.

March's reading, which increased for the 15th successive month, was in line with median economists' expectations.

The so-called core-core inflation index, which excludes fresh food and energy prices, meanwhile, rose 0.5 percent in the year to March, in line with the previous month, the ministry said.

For fiscal 2017 through March, the core CPI increased 0.7 percent from the previous year, the government said, with the report showing that owing to rising energy costs, inflation has been picking up in recent months.

The Bank of Japan's (BOJ) lofty 2 percent inflation target remains some way off however, economists noted.

According to local financial analysts, the latest figures are a surefire guarantee that BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who began another five-year term in April, will continue with the bank's aggressive monetary easing policies, at a time when other global central banks are tapering or reining-in their easing policies.

Core consumer inflation is expected by market analysts to peak in the coming months, due to upward price pressure from energy and food likely to moderate.

This will further add to the difficulties for the central bank here to exit from its ultra-easy monetary policy.