Wholesale prices rose 2.1 percent in fiscal 2005 from the previous year for the second-straight annual increase, due mainly to rising prices of oil and oil-related products, as well higher import prices caused by the yen's depreciation, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The 2005 jump is the largest since wholesale prices rose 2.7 percent in fiscal 1989, when the 3 percent consumption tax was introduced. In fiscal 1980, wholesale prices surged as high as 12.5 percent amid the so-called second oil crisis after the Iranian Revolution.
The prices, gauged by the BOJ's corporate goods price index, stood at 98.4 in fiscal 2005 against the base of 100 for 2000, the central bank said.
The CGPI's rise in fiscal 2005 was attributed mainly to a 24.4 percent jump in prices of coal products and petroleum, including gasoline and gas oil, over the previous year, propelled by high crude oil prices, a BOJ official said.
A 16.7 percent surge in nonferrous metals prices also helped boost the index, the official added.
But prices of electrical machinery and equipment, including personal computers and mobile phones, fell 3.7 percent year-on-year in fiscal 2005 in the wake of price reductions due to technological innovations and market competition, he said.
Import prices soared 17.3 percent in fiscal 2005 compared with fiscal 2004 in yen terms and 12.7 percent in terms of contract currencies.