Wholesale inflation slowed for the first time in three years in fiscal 2023 through March, due largely to government efforts to cut energy costs, with prices of goods traded between companies rising 2.3 percent from a year ago, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. The slowdown from a record 9.5 percent surge in fiscal 2022 came as the BOJ ended its unorthodox monetary easing steps in March after it grew more confident about stable inflation in Japan on the back of a positive cycle of pay and price hikes. The corporate goods price index came to 119.9, the highest since comparable data became avail…