Japan's wholesale prices slid in October from a year earlier owing to slumping prices for crude oil, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the central bank, wholesale prices edged down 0.4 percent in the recording period, with the prices of goods traded between companies dropping for the fifth successive month.
Prices declined 1.9 percent, when excluding the impact of the Oct. 1 consumption tax hike here from 8 to 10 percent, the BOJ said.
An official from the central bank said that along with falling prices of oil, lower electricity bills and drug prices weighed on overall prices.
"In addition to falling oil prices, reduced electricity bills following the high summer season rates and lower drug prices set by the government since October weighed on prices," the BOJ official told a press briefing on the matter.
From the previous year, prices for oil and coal products fell 14.1 percent due to a slump in demand and a global economic slowdown, with the drop marking the biggest decline since August 2016.
Current international trade issues have put pressure on commodity prices, including crude oil, which largely affected prices in Japan, the BOJ official said.
Owing to both weak demand and a murky outlook for the global economy, nonferrous metal product prices dropped 4.5 percent, chemical products, meanwhile, were down 4.3 percent.
The BOJ said that along with prices for scrap and waste tumbling 30.0 percent in the recording period, in yen terms, export prices dropped 6.3 percent and import prices fell 10.5 percent.
Editor:Cherie
