Rising prices of daily necessities could hurt household sentiment, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday, suggesting that mounting inflationary pressure is emerging as a risk to the countrys fragile economy.

Japans core consumer inflation rose 2.1% year-on-year in April, exceeding the central banks 2% target for the first time in seven years, due largely to surging fuel and raw material costs.

"Prices are rising particularly for goods that households buy frequently such as gasoline and food," Kuroda told parliament. "These kind of price hikes could hurt consumer sentiment, so we need to watch developments carefully.