China consumer inflation stable at 2.3 pc in March

AFP, BEIJING:  China’s consumer inflation was steady at 2.3 per cent year-on-year in March, official data showed Monday, a sign of stabilisation for the world’s second-largest economy.
The rise in the consumer price index (CPI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics was the same as February’s 2.3 percent, and slightly below market forecasts of 2.4 per cent in a survey by Bloomberg News.
Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it pushes buyers to act before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt growth.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures prices of goods at the factory gate, fell 4.3 per cent year-on-year, its slowest rate of decline since January 2015.
It increased 0.5 per cent from February, its first month-on-month rise in two and a half years.
“Deflation is our top macroeconomic concern and today’s PPI offers signs of relief,”
said analysts with ANZ Research in a note.
They attributed the uptick to prices for commodities such as oil and iron ore rebounding since the beginning of the year, and a lower basis for comparison as producer prices fell sharply last year.
Even so, it marked the 49th consecutive monthly fall in producer prices as overcapacity in manufacturing drags on China’s growth.
The consumer figures were driven by food price inflation of 7.6 percent, with fresh vegetable prices jumping 35.8 per cent year-on-year and pork prices up a hefty 28.4 per cent.

China consumer inflation stable at 2.3 pc in March

AFP, BEIJING: Chinas consumer inflation was steady at 2.3 per cent year-on-year in March, official data showed Monday, a sign of stabilisation for the worlds second-largest economy. The rise in the consumer price index (CPI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics was the same as Februarys 2.3 percent, and slightly below market forecasts of 2.4 per cent in a survey by Bloomberg News. Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it pushes buyers to act before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt growth. The producer price index (PPI), which measures prices of goods at the factory gate, fell 4.3 per cent year-on-year, its slowest rate of decline since January 2015. It increased 0.5 per cent from February, its first month-on-month rise in two and a half years. Deflation is our top macroeconomic concern and todays PPI offers signs of relief, said analysts with ANZ Research in a note. They attributed the uptick to prices for commodities such as oil and iron ore rebounding since the beginning of the year, and a lower basis for comparison as producer prices fell sharply last year. Even so, it marked the 49th consecutive monthly fall in producer prices as overcapacity in manufacturing drags on Chinas growth. The consumer figures were driven by food price inflation of 7.6 percent, with fresh vegetable prices jumping 35.8 per cent year-on-year and pork prices up a hefty 28.4 per cent.