China’s annual inflation unexpectedly slowed in March to an 18-month low, according to the latest statistical data. On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell for the second month in a row, despite forecasts that they would remain unchanged.
China’s inflation eases further
after the zero-cobid policy.
According to official figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s annual inflation rate fell to 0.7% in March from 1.0% in February. This is the lowest figure since September 2021,noted the Trading Economics website, which citedthis data.
The unexpected decline reflects further easing of both food and non-food costs amid an uneven economic recovery following the lifting of the government’s zero-cobed policy, the statistics portal stressed Tuesday.
Food inflation fell to 2.4% from 2.6% in February, a 10-month low. This was analyzed mainly because the drop in the price of fresh vegetables was steeper than the rise in pork prices.
At the same time, non-food prices continued to ease from 0.6% to 0.3%, a trend reportedly associated with further declines in transportation (-1.9% versus 0.1%) and housing costs (-0.3% versus 0.1%).
Meanwhile, education spending increased from the previous month to 1.4% in March from 1.2% in February, while health-related expense inflation remained unchanged at 1.0%.
Also, core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy price changes, rose 0.7% year over year after a 0.6% increase in the previous month, the state statistics office reported. The month-on-month decline was 0.3%, despite forecasts of flat growth in the previous month.
Hong Kong stocks surged following a government report on slowing price growth. Experts explain that China’s lower inflation rate compared to Western countries is due to Beijing’s tightening of monetary policy during the pandemic, access to cheap energy from allies such as Russia and Iran, and the country’s production of many of the goods it needs.
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