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January wholesale prices up 9.5% yr/yr vs f'cast +9.6%
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Firms face price hikes for food, steel, chemical goods -
data
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Wholesale price index matches record high hit in December
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Analysts, BOJ expect price pressures to moderate ahead
(Adds analyst quote, detail)
By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Japan's wholesale prices in
January rose 9.5% from a year earlier, data showed on Friday,
adding to growing signs of inflationary strains that could keep
the central bank under pressure to phase out its massive
stimulus programme.
While the pace of increase slowed from the previous month's
10.5% rise, the data highlighted the cost-push pressure
companies were facing for products ranging from food, steel and
chemical goods.
The increase in the corporate goods price index (CGPI),
which measures the price companies charge each other for their
goods and services, largely met a median market forecast for a
9.6% gain. The index, at 119.8, matched a record high hit in
December, Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed.
The data suggests that Japan's core consumer inflation,
which hit a 41-year high of 4.0% in December, will likely remain
well above the central bank's 2% target in coming months.
"Firms have yet to fully pass on past rises in input costs,
which is keeping inflationary pressure high," said Takeshi
Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
"We'll likely see price rises slow ahead," as the cost of
imports slide from falling raw material prices and the yen's
rebound, he added.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday stuck to his view the
recent spike in consumer inflation was largely due to surging
import prices, and expects a moderation later this year.
"We expect the pace of inflation to gradually slow in the
latter half of fiscal 2023," he told parliament. "We've yet to
see inflation stably and sustainably achieve our 2% target."
Markets are rife with speculation the BOJ will phase out its
yield control policy under a new governor, who will succeed
Kuroda when his second, five-year term ends in April.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Shri
Navaratnam)
