BEIJING, Sept. 9 -- China's inflation accelerated faster than expected in August, but remained mild overall, leaving policy makers room for containing financial leverage and risks.
Fresh data showed Saturday that consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose to a seven-month high of 1.8 percent in August, compared with July's 1.4 percent, beating market expectations of 1.6 percent.
For the first eight months of the year, CPI climbed 1.5 percent from one year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 2.2 percent year on year in August, up slightly from July's 2.1 percent. The core CPI has been holding steady at a little above 2 percent since March.
The stronger, yet still moderate, consumer inflation remained below the government's annual target of around 3 percent set for 2017.
Producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, climbed to a four-month high of 6.3 percent in August, compared with 5.5 percent in July, according to NBS.
PPI growth, which was higher than the market forecast of 5.7 percent, was boosted by increases in the prices of steel, non-ferrous metals, as well as oil and natural gas.
Analysts said the pick-up in inflation is unlikely to continue because of a high comparative base in September 2016 and the fading effects of seasonal factors during the rest of the year.
Jiang Chao, chief economist at Haitong Securities, said the CPI increase would ease to 1.6 percent in September and remain subdued for the whole year.
Prices of coal, steel and other metals continued to rise in September amid the government's efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity and enhance environmental regulations, but Jiang expected
September's PPI growth to fall to 5.8 percent due to a calculation factor in higher prices for the same month last year.
Guosen Securities analyst Dong Dezhi said the growth of CPI and PPI in August would be their peak this year.
August's price data added to a slew of upside surprises in the world's second-largest economy, which has defied market expectations of a slowdown.
Producer prices accelerated upward, a significant positive sign for China's economy, which will help drive profits higher and enable companies to process their debt burden a little more easily, Bloomberg chief Asia economist Tom Orlik said.
Surging housing prices in major cities and investment booms in financial markets -- ranging from stocks and bonds to farm produce futures -- made policy makers wary of debt piling up in enterprises, local governments and households, and prioritizing financial risk control in 2017.
Since the end of 2016, authorities have tightened financial regulation and credit control, and have been using an expanded monetary toolkit to manage liquidity.
With downward pressure and increasing global market uncertainty complicating the outlook, analysts said the mild inflation and steady growth momentum would give policy makers more scope to continue deleveraging.
Orlik expected the central bank to continue dealing with the deleveraging challenge, not to hasten monetary easing.
CICC analyst Liu Wenqi said monetary policy would stay largely neutral, but also be ready to be "fine-tuned" on potential changes in growth and inflation trajectory.
The government's ongoing drive to contain financial risks will see credit growth slowing further in the coming months, including credit flows to local governments, which may soften fixed-asset investment and weigh on economic activity, UBS economist Wang Tao said.
However, Wang expected growth to stay firm before softening modestly going into the year end.
GDP grew 6.9 percent in the first half of the year, well above the government's target of around 6.5 percent for the year.
英语美文欣赏:A beautiful song
浪漫英文情书精选:Don't Give Up不要放弃
英语美文:艰难岁月也要满怀感恩之心(双语)
精选英语美文阅读:你见或者不见我(中英对照)
浪漫英文情书精选:Keep You Forever永远温存着你
最美的英文情诗:请允许我成为你的夏季
双语美文:What are you still waiting for?
态度决定一切 Attitude Is Everything
英语美文:Keep on Singing
精选英语散文欣赏:平等的爱
英语名篇名段背诵精华27
英语晨读:雪夜星光
精选英语美文阅读:哪有一株忘忧草? (双语)
精选英语美文阅读:饶孟侃《呼唤》
人生哲理:年轻无悔 别停下追寻梦想的脚步
精美散文:让我们撩起生命的波纹
“母亲”这个伟大的职业(双语)
浪漫英文情书精选:My Everything我的一切
英语美文:越长大越孤独(双语)
精美散文:守护自己的天使
精选英语美文阅读:一封未发出的英文情书《但是你没有》
精选英语美文阅读::朋友的祈祷
浪漫英文情书精选:Need You With Me需要你爱我
浪漫英文情书精选:I'm So Sorry, Baby对不起宝贝
精选英语美文阅读:爱会伴随着度过一生
26个英文字母蕴含的人生哲理
英语美文:生命这个奇迹
精选英语美文阅读:爱的奇迹 Keep on Singing
精选英语美文阅读:被忽略的爱 Helpless love
诗歌:放慢你的舞步
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |