According to an analysis based on the results of the Bank's Tankan surveys, firms that had not changed prices in the past have begun to change course toward raising prices.
The diffusion index (DI) for output prices suggests that a significant number of these firms responded that output prices have changed to a "rise" for the first time in more than three decades (Chart 10). 4  What lies behind the change in their price-setting stance is the significant rise in raw material costs.