China warns about inflation
Price rises at near 12-year highs:
CHINA: China’s inflation rate rose to 8.5 percent in April, staying
near 12-year highs, the government said Monday, warning tougher measures
were needed to handle the nation’s most intractable economic problem.
The figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, marked a
reacceleration after the consumer price index weakened to 8.3 percent
growth in March from 8.7 percent in February. “Growth in consumer prices
remains high,” the statistics bureau said in a press release.
“At the moment, we must pay close attention to future price trends
and prioritise the control of price increases and inflation even
higher.”
China’s recent bout of inflation has been triggered mainly by soaring
food prices, and data from the statistics bureau data showed this
remained the case last month. Overall food prices increased by 22.1
percent in April from a year earlier, while pork, the favourite meat for
the vast majority of Chinese, became 68.3 percent more expensive over
the same period.
By contrast, non-food prices increased by a mere 1.8 percent in April
from a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau. “It is linked
to the fact that the international prices of primary products, and
especially grain prices, continue to rise, impacting domestic food
prices,” the statistics bureau said.
China’s communist rulers have made the war on inflation one of their
main economic priorities this year, fearing that rising prices could
impact social stability as the costs of essentials rocket. Investment
bank Goldman Sachs said the figures were higher than market
expectations, suggesting that “it is still far too early to claim
success in the battle against inflation.”
“As underlying inflationary pressures remain undiminished, it is
vital for the government to keep its tightening policy stance to anchor
inflationary expectations,” Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Friday warned global inflation posed
a threat to the country’s speedy growth, saying high prices abroad
constituted a major pressure for the economy.
“Global inflation has intensified, creating major outside pressure
for China,” Wang said in a speech at a financial forum in Shanghai.
Beijing, Monday, AFP |
