Forexpros – Consumer price inflation in China accelerated at a faster rate than expected in March, as food costs rose, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said consumer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 3.6% in March, accelerating from 3.2% in February.
Analysts had expected Chinese CPI to rise by 3.3% in March.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index rose 0.2% from February, compared to a 0.1% drop in February from a month earlier.
Politically sensitive food costs accelerated to 7.5% from February’s 6.2%. The rise in Chinese food costs was driven by a 20.5% increase in the price of vegetables.
The report also showed that producer price inflation dipped by a 0.3% in March, compared to expectations for a 0.2% decline. Producer price inflation was flat in February.
That was the first decline since November 2009.
Following the release of the data, Asian stock markets were lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.15%, while markets in Hong Kong and Australia remained closed for a public holiday.
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