By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s wholesale prices rose 9.1% in May from a year earlier, slowing from the previous month’s increase as the recent spike in fuel costs moderated, data showed on Friday.
But the yen-based import prices spiked 43.3% in May from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month’s 42.2% gain, in a sign the yen’s recent declines were pushing up already rising raw material costs.
The increase in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price of goods companies charge each other, was smaller than a median market forecast for a 9.8% gain.
It followed a 9.8% increase in April, Bank of Japan data showed.
Global commodity inflation driven by the war in Ukraine and the yen’s falls to two-decade lows have pushed up wholesale prices in Japan, squeezing profits for retailers.
Companies are gradually passing on the higher costs to households. Core consumer prices rose 2.1% in April from a year earlier, much slower than the pace of increase in Western economies but exceeding the BOJ’s 2% target for the first time in seven years.
(Reporting by Leika KiharaEditing by Chang-Ran Kim Cynthia Osterman)
