Japan Wholesale Inflation Stays High at 6.8% as BOJ Rate-Hike Bets Persist

3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Oct 13

Japan’s corporate goods price index rose 6.8% in September from a year earlier, slowing from 7.6% in August and undershooting a 7.6% forecast but still signaling persistent pipeline inflation.
Yen-based import prices jumped 24.5%, showing the weak currency is still lifting raw-material costs even as farm-product prices fell 13.3% on cheaper rice.
Broad price gains elsewhere kept pressure on firms: chemical goods rose 13.3%, plastic products 12.8% and non-ferrous metals 40.2%, helped by the weak yen, elevated oil prices and AI-related demand.
The data will feed into the BOJ’s Oct. 29-30 meeting, where fresh forecasts are due; analysts see October as a possible pause, with many still expecting another rate hike by year-end.
That outlook follows rate increases in June, September and again last month to a 31-year high, as the BOJ shifts toward preventing underlying inflation from overshooting its 2% target.