PBOC bureaucrat says it will move to keep a lid on consumer prices
The central bank has for the first time admitted that the mainland's inflation rate will exceed its 3 per cent target this year and said it would take further measures if necessary to keep prices in check.
The remarks of People's Bank of China vice-governor Su Ning yesterday underscored the severe challenges Beijing faced in fighting inflation, which jumped to a decade-high of 5.6 per cent last month.
'Even though we have already increased our macroeconomic control efforts, the [increase in the consumer] price index this year is likely to exceed 3 per cent,' he told a briefing.
Rising consumer prices have become one of the top concerns of policymakers ahead of the Communist Party's 17th National Congress in October. The congress will set the mainland's policy agenda for the next five years and see a major reshuffle of the leadership lineup.
July was the fifth consecutive month the consumer price index (CPI) had risen by more than 3 per cent. The index rose 3.5 per cent year on year in the first seven months of the year.