ID :
45397
Fri, 02/13/2009 - 09:18
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https://oananews.org//node/45397
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Japan Jan. wholesale prices post 1st yr-on-yr fall in over 5 yrs
TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo - Japanese wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier for
the first year-on-year decline in five years and one month due to sharp
declines in oil and raw material import prices, stoking deflation fears in the
country, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The prices, gauged by the central bank's corporate goods price index, stood at
105.5 against the year 2005 base of 100, the BOJ said in a preliminary report.
The CGPI has entered negative territory for the first time since December 2003,
when the index also posted a 0.2 percent fall on year.
The headline reading was below the average market forecast of a 0.3 percent
gain in a Kyodo News survey.
Prices of petroleum and coal products sank 28.8 percent in January from a year
earlier. Those of nonferrous metals slid 28.4 percent, while scrap and waste
prices plunged 50.2 percent, the BOJ said.
On a month-on-month basis, wholesale prices were down 1.0 percent from December
for the fifth straight monthly drop, a larger decline than the average market
projection of 0.6 percent.
Import prices tumbled 24.6 percent year-on-year in yen terms in January, the
fastest decrease since 28.1 percent in February 1987, when the Japanese yen
appreciated sharply against other major currencies and oil prices plummeted
following the oil shock in the early 1980s that had inflated petroleum prices,
a BOJ official said.
In terms of contract currencies, import prices slipped 13.5 percent from a year
earlier, the largest decline since the 14.1 percent logged in November 1991.
Export prices lost 13.5 percent in terms of the Japanese currency for the fifth
consecutive monthly fall and fell 1.0 percent on a contract currency basis,
down for the third month in a row.
The official said that since last August Japan has seen a cumulative fall of
38.8 percent in import prices and 18.2 percent in export prices, both in yen
terms.
''Since the pace of decline in export prices has been slower than that in
import prices, we can see Japan's terms of trade have somewhat improved,
bringing positive effects on corporate profits and household spending,'' he
said.
==Kyodo
the first year-on-year decline in five years and one month due to sharp
declines in oil and raw material import prices, stoking deflation fears in the
country, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The prices, gauged by the central bank's corporate goods price index, stood at
105.5 against the year 2005 base of 100, the BOJ said in a preliminary report.
The CGPI has entered negative territory for the first time since December 2003,
when the index also posted a 0.2 percent fall on year.
The headline reading was below the average market forecast of a 0.3 percent
gain in a Kyodo News survey.
Prices of petroleum and coal products sank 28.8 percent in January from a year
earlier. Those of nonferrous metals slid 28.4 percent, while scrap and waste
prices plunged 50.2 percent, the BOJ said.
On a month-on-month basis, wholesale prices were down 1.0 percent from December
for the fifth straight monthly drop, a larger decline than the average market
projection of 0.6 percent.
Import prices tumbled 24.6 percent year-on-year in yen terms in January, the
fastest decrease since 28.1 percent in February 1987, when the Japanese yen
appreciated sharply against other major currencies and oil prices plummeted
following the oil shock in the early 1980s that had inflated petroleum prices,
a BOJ official said.
In terms of contract currencies, import prices slipped 13.5 percent from a year
earlier, the largest decline since the 14.1 percent logged in November 1991.
Export prices lost 13.5 percent in terms of the Japanese currency for the fifth
consecutive monthly fall and fell 1.0 percent on a contract currency basis,
down for the third month in a row.
The official said that since last August Japan has seen a cumulative fall of
38.8 percent in import prices and 18.2 percent in export prices, both in yen
terms.
''Since the pace of decline in export prices has been slower than that in
import prices, we can see Japan's terms of trade have somewhat improved,
bringing positive effects on corporate profits and household spending,'' he
said.
==Kyodo
