China’s November CPI set for mild fall

Source: Xinhua | 2017-12-04

CHINA’S inflation was expected to fall mildly in November and remain tame until the end of the year amid stable food prices and a weakening carry-over effect, the Bank of Communications said in a report.

The consumer price index, a main gauge of consumer inflation, was set drop to 1.8 percent year on year in November from the 1.9-percent rise in October, according to the report.

The CPI retreat was mainly due to stable food prices, BoCom’s chief economist Lian Ping said, adding that vegetable prices would ease and meat prices would rise marginally.

Meanwhile, non-food prices rose due to more expensive refined oil products.

Lian expected no substantial changes in inflation at the year end and the CPI was likely to be around 2 percent in 2018, ruling out the possibility of price hikes.

The CPI climbed 1.5 percent year on year for the January-October period, below the government’s annual inflation target of around 3 percent for 2017.