TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s corporate service price index fell 0.3% in
March, posting year-on-year drops for nearly three and a half years
since October 2008, following -0.6% in February, Bank of Japan data
released on Tuesday showed.
The smaller decrease in March was mainly caused by higher
year-on-year gains in costs for advertising services, international
transportation, real estate services as well as leasing and rental.
Total CSPI, which stood at 96.4 in March against 100 in the 2005
base year, was up 0.7% from the previous month, posting the second
consecutive m/m gain after rising 0.1% in February.
Meanwhile, core CSPI excluding international transportation, a
measure free of volatile factors, was down 0.4% from a year earlier in
March, after falling a revised 0.7% in February. The index has posted a
drop every month since November 2008.
The downward pressure on prices has generally eased since total
CSPI posted a record drop of -3.8% in August 2009, which was the largest
decline since the BOJ began compiling CSPI data in January 1985.
The corporate services price index tracks prices for a wide range
of corporate services, ranging from finance and insurance charges to the
cost of shipping goods by road rail, air or sea.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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