Japan’s business-to-business providers inflation picked up in February on a tourism rebound and rising labor prices, information confirmed, providing the central financial institution hope that regular wage hikes would support in sustainably hitting its 2% inflation goal.

With inflation already exceeding the two% goal due largely to rising uncooked materials prices, the second consecutive month-to-month providers acceleration could hold alive market expectations the Financial institution of Japan will finally whittle down its huge stimulus below new Gov. Kazuo Ueda.

The providers producer worth index, which measures the costs corporations cost one another for providers, rose 1.8% in February from a 12 months earlier, up from a 1.6% achieve in January, BOJ information confirmed Monday.