The corporate goods price index, which shows the prices of goods traded between companies, rose 1% in the same month of the previous year in the preliminary figures for March, the first increase in a year and a month.
Vaccination with the new coronavirus has begun, and the rise in crude oil prices due to expectations for economic recovery has had an impact.
The preliminary figures for the corporate goods price index released by the Bank of Japan in March last month were 102.1 with an average of 100 in 2015, which was 1% higher than the same month of the previous year.
This is the first increase in a year and a month since February last year.
This is because vaccinations for the new coronavirus have begun in various countries around the world, and the prices of "petroleum and coal products" and "chemical products" have risen in response to the rise in crude oil prices due to expectations for economic recovery.
In addition, the prices of "non-ferrous metals" and "steel" have also risen due to the recovery of demand for automobiles and the depreciation of the yen.
The Bank of Japan said, "It is still early to say that domestic demand has returned to pre-Corona levels, mainly due to the rise in resource prices driven by the recovery in demand in the United States and China. The rise in crude oil prices is also in Europe and India. We need to be careful about future price trends as we are calming down after the re-emergence of the infection. "