— Japan Feb CGPI +0.6% Y/Y; MNI Poll Median Forecast: +0.6%
— Japan CGPI Posts 17th Straight Y/Y Rise; Jan +0.5%

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s corporate goods price index rose 0.6% on year
in February as expected, with the pace of increase accelerating slightly
from +0.5% in January on higher costs of energy and commodities, data
released by the Bank of Japan Monday showed.

The February CGPI figure came in line with the median forecast for
a 0.6% rise in a Market News International survey of economists.

From the previous month, CGPI rose 0.2% in February, marking the
first rise in seven months, led by gasoline, heating oil and non-ferrous
metals, after falling 0.1% in January.

CGPI posted a 17th consecutive year-on-year rise but the pace of
increase remained slow, little changed from January’s 0.5% rise, which
was the weakest figure since September 2010, when the index fell 0.1%
from a year earlier.

Higher gains in commodity prices for petroleum and coal products as
well as pulp, paper and related products led the faster pace of producer
price gains on the year.

The pullback of the yen exchange rates has also dented Japan’s
purchasing power, leading to higher import costs.

But the number of CGPI items whose prices rose from a year earlier
totaled 361 in February, or 42.2% of the basket, down from 378, or
44.2%, in January, while the number of items whose prices fell came to
347, or 40.6%, up from 336, or 39.3% in the previous month.

At the start of 2011, CGPI rose 1.6% on the year and peaked at
+2.8% in July last year. The pace of growth has since decelerated
steadily.

The index had recovered steadily from the record 8.5% drop marked
in August and July 2009, which were the largest year-on-year declines
since the BOJ began compiling the data in 1960.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **

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