Consumer prices up slower than expected at 2%
Print Edition
DEFLATIONARY pressures in China eased further in May, relieving some pressure on cash-strapped companies, but consumer inflation was cooler than expected, suggesting the central bank will keep policy supportive in coming months but be in no hurry to cut interest rates further.
Consumer inflation rose less than forecast as pressure from high food prices eased, while producer prices recovered more than forecast, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
The consumer price index rose 2 percent year-on-year in May, compared to April’s 2.3 percent increase. Food prices were up 5.9 percent year on year in May after rising 7.4 percent in April. Pork prices rose 33.6 percent last month and hit record levels last week.
Non-food prices rose 1.1 percent, flat from April and continuing to show a lack of price pressures that would indicate activity in the broader economy was gaining steam.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected consumer inflation to come in at 2.3 percent, the same pace as in each of the previous three months.
“On a month-on-month basis, China’s CPI has been dropping for three consecutive months, clearly pointing to an easing bias in monetary policy for the time being,” said Zhou Hao, senior Asia emerging market economist at Commerzbank.
Improvements in producer prices will not change China’s overall soft inflation outlook, Hao added.
In a sign that strains on Chinese companies are easing, producer prices fell at their slowest rate since November 2014, supported by a government investment spree and higher commodity prices.
The producer price index fell 2.8 percent in May, up from April’s 3.4 percent drop. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.5 percent, the third increase in a row.
Analysts had expected the PPI to fall 3.3 percent, extending a decline for more than four years which has eroded profit margins.
China’s consumer inflation rate remains well below the official 3 percent target, and despite strengthening producer prices, analysts do not see inflation at these levels impacting policy decisions.
“At these levels, inflation dynamics are not an important factor in this year’s monetary policy decisions,” said Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan.
Zhu said May and June figures will continue to show a recovery, but expected growth to slow again in the second half. “We still see one interest rate cut this year. It’s a close call, but we see that it is still likely to happen. We moved the timing to the fourth quarter when we see the growth dynamics slowing down.”
Many economists have scaled back expectations of further cuts in interest rates and bank reserve ratios this year as the central bank has shown a preference for more targeted cash injections to help badly stressed sectors such as farming and small companies.
Data released on Wednesday showed China’s exports in May weakened, but imports were stronger than expected.
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