China’s consumer price index in May rose 3.0 percent from a year earlier, the lowest rate in two years, indicating that the emerging giant's economy is slowing down, government statistics showed.
From January to May, the CPI increased 3.5 percent from the same period in 2011, the National Bureau of Statistics said on June 9.
The slowdown in May is attributed mainly to food products, whose prices rose by 6.4 percent, down from a 7.0-percent jump in April.
The CPI increase for May is the lowest since June 2010, when the index marked a year-on-year rise of 2.9 percent.
The Chinese government has set a target of around 4 percent for annual CPI growth.
In April and May, interest rates on one-year bank deposits slightly exceeded the inflation rates.
The People’s Bank of China lowered key interest rates on June 8 for the first time in three and a half years to prop up the economy. The central bank intends to continue with its easy monetary policy.
The producer price index, an indicator of wholesale price trends, decreased 1.4 percent in May from a year earlier, marking the three consecutive month of decline.
- « Prev
- 1
- Next »
