Japan’s wholesale inflation eases for 5th straight month in May By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A shopper looks at items at a drug store in Tokyo, Japan, May 28, 2015. Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in April from a year earlier, government data showed on May 29, keeping inflation distant from the central bank’s 2 percent t

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese wholesale prices rose 5.1% in May from a year earlier, slowing for the fifth straight month due to sliding fuel and raw material costs, central bank data showed on Monday.

The rise in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, was slower than a median market forecast for a 5.5% gain and followed a revised 5.9% increase in April.

The slowdown in wholesale price growth heightens the chance Japan’s consumer inflation will moderate towards the central bank’s 2% target.