Japan’s wholesale inflation eased for a seventh month in July as the impact of high global commodity prices faded, according to data released by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Thursday. The slowdown in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, is likely to encourage the central bank to maintain its monetary stimulus amid a fragile economic recovery.
The CGPI rose 3.6% in July from a year earlier, slightly above the median market forecast for a 3.5% increase and down from a 4.3% gain in June. It was the slowest pace of wholesale inflation since March 2021, when prices turned positive for the first time in a year.