Japan¡¯s corporate goods prices surged by the most in 12 years in April, in another sign of how the war in Iran is boosting inflationary pressures and supporting the case for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates.

The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 2.3% from a month earlier and March¡¯s increase was revised higher, the Bank of Japan reported Friday. That was a full point above the highest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists and marked the biggest jump since April 2014, when the sales tax was raised for the first time in nearly two decades.

Outside of that instance, it was the largest increase since 1980.

The gain was led by higher prices of oil and naphtha ¡ª a key petroleum product used to make plastics and rubbers ¡ª according to the central bank. Producer prices advanced 4.9% from a year earlier, the biggest increase in three years and also exceeding all projections.

The data reinforces growing market expectations for the BOJ to resume raising interest rates at their next meeting in June. Policymakers left rates unchanged last month in a split decision and warned of upside risks to their inflation estimates from the war in Iran.

¡°The latest data show that prices are surging mainly for petroleum products and chemical products, and concerns about supply shortages are spreading for some goods,¡± Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, said in note. The likelihood of a rate hike at the June meeting is rising gradually.¡±

One of the officials who supported the BOJ¡¯s April decision said on Thursday that the central bank should hike as soon as possible, assuming there is no indication of the economy running into trouble.

April marks the start of the fiscal year in Japan, and is therefore a key time for businesses to change their prices. Friday¡¯s data suggest businesses may be starting to pass along higher prices to their customers after long resisting doing so in the past when oil prices surged, including after Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine.