April wholesale prices rise 10.0 yryr vs f39;cast 9.4
Yen39;s drop pushes up import prices, hurt companies
Core CPI on Friday seen rising faster than BOJ39;s target in April

TOKYO, May 16 Reuters Japan39;s wholesale prices in April jumped 10 from the same month a year earlier, data showed on Monday, rising at a record rate as the Ukraine crisis and a weak yen pushed up the cost of energy and raw materials.

The surge in the corporate goods price index CGPI, which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, marked the fastest yearonyear rise in a single month since comparable data became available in 1981.

The gain followed a revised 9.7 increase in March, and was higher than a median market forecast for a 9.4 increase.

Unlike other central banks worried about surging inflation, the Bank of Japan BOJ has kept its ultraeasy monetary policy in place on the view that the costpush rise in inflation is not bringing longterm price expectations to its 2 target.

Companies have been trying to absorb the rising costs by corporate efforts, but from last year onwards that has become harder for them to endure, said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

They will be left no choice but to pass on those extra cost.

Japanese firms have been slow in passing on rising cost to households as soft wage growth does little to help consumer sentiment and makes them cautious about scaring off consumers with price hikes.

The…