China Inflation Eases To 0.1%; PPI Continues To Drop
(RTTNews) - China's consumer price inflation softened further in December and producer prices declined for 27 consecutive months despite Beijing initiating stimulus measures to revive domestic demand. Consumer prices grew only 0.1 percent on a yearly basis in December, slower than the 0.2 percent increase seen in November, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday.
Meanwhile, core inflation edged up to 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent in November.
Food prices decreased 0.5 percent from the last year, while non-food prices grew 0.2 percent, data showed.
Month-on-month, consumer prices remained flat in December, in line with expectations.
For the whole year of 2024, inflation was unchanged at 0.2 percent, which was well below the official target of 3 percent.
Data showed that producer prices extended its decline for 27 straight months in December. Producer prices were down 2.3 percent annually compared to November's 2.5 percent decrease. The annual rate matched expectations.
Capital Economics' economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said the fall in inflation was driven by weather-related volatility in food prices.
Both core inflation and PPI picked up adding to signs that policy stimulus is providing some support to demand and prices, the economist said. However, with the prop from stimulus likely to be short-lived, underlying inflation will fall back again later this year, he noted.
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