Japan’s Wholesale Inflation Hits 9% As Price Rises Broaden

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2022. 09. 13. 10:36

Japan’s wholesale prices rose 9.0% in August from the previous year, matching the annual pace of growth in July, signalling that persistently high raw material costs continued to squeeze corporate margins.

A weak yen has inflated the cost of importing already rising prices of raw material goods, weighing on corporate profits and forcing a growing number of firms to hike prices

The rise in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, was largely in line with a median market forecast for a 8.9% increase, Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed. The index, at 115.1, extended a record high for the fifth straight month in a sign Japan continues to feel the impact of rising global raw material prices.

The yen-based import price index rose 42.5% in August from a year earlier, after a revised 49.1% increase in July, the data showed. A weak yen has inflated the cost of importing already rising prices of raw material goods, weighing on corporate profits and forcing a growing number of firms to hike prices. Japan’s core consumer inflation hit 2.4% in July to mark the fastest annual pace in 7-1/2 years, adding to the costs of living for households yet to see much wage gains.

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