Japan's wholesale prices rose 1.7 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of increase, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said on Thursday.
The 1.7 percent prices rise logged in the recording period came in below median economists' forecasts for a 1.9 percent gain.
On a monthly basis the index rose 0.2 percent in February, compared with forecasts for a 0.4 percent gain. This follows a 0.5 percent increase logged in January, data from the BOJ showed.
The central bank's data showed that export prices rose 0.9 percent on month, but retreated 1.6 percent on year.
In addition, the Bank of Japan noted that import prices rose 1.6 percent on month and 7.6 percent on year.
The bank has highlighted recently that rising commodity prices such as for crude oil and nonferrous metals and growing demand in Asia is supporting Japan's rising wholesale prices.
The corporate goods price index in Japan, on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, is comprehensively tracked as these supply-side price pressures and increases in the index often precede upward movement in the CPI.
If a decrease in the CGPI is followed by a fall in the CPI, concerns about deflation may prompt the BOJ to raise interest rate, if the situation is reversed the opposite will happen./.