Inflation tipped to continue easing
China's inflation rate will continue to ease for the rest of the year, say the mainland's top economic decision-makers.
'The consumer price index [CPI] for November and December will continue to decline ... due to effective implementation of the macro control policies and a good grain harvest,' the State Development and Reform Commission said in a research report.
China's CPI rose 4.3 per cent last month from a year earlier, a drop of 0.9 percentage points from the year-on-year rate in September.
The central bank raised interest rates last month for the first time in nine years, partly in response to inflationary pressure as the CPI had been hovering around 5 per cent for three consecutive months.
Stabilisation in food prices provided the main factor for the deceleration in the CPI, the report said. Food prices rose 10 per cent year on year last month, compared to 13 per cent in September, official data showed. This three-percentage-point difference could account for the 0.9-percentage-point drop in CPI since food prices contributed to one third of the index, the report explained.
