The Bank of Japan said firms are passing on a wider range of costs, including materials, the weak yen and labour, and raised its assessment for two of nine regions.
The Bank of Japan said on Thursday that price rises driven by higher raw-material costs were spreading to consumer goods, and that some firms were raising prices more often than in the past. The comments came in a statement after the quarterly meeting of regional branch managers.
The bank said many regions saw firms passing on a broad range of costs, including materials linked to the Middle East conflict, the weak yen and higher labour costs. It said those efforts were spreading to firms closer to consumers.
All nine regions were still described as recovering moderately, picking up, or picking up moderately, with some weakness in parts. The bank raised its assessment for two regions and left the other seven unchanged. Tohoku was one region moved up to recovering moderately, the October regional report summary shows.
The statement also gave an upbeat note on production, saying brisk demand related to artificial intelligence was lifting output of electronic goods, machinery and telecommunications infrastructure. The English summary was embargoed until 2 p.m. Japan time on Thursday.
The report is an assessment, not a policy-rate decision. It does not set the next meeting's vote.
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- The bank said efforts to pass through rising costs are spreading to firms close to consumers.