Chinese inflation returns to positive, after months in which a deflationary effect was even feared in the face of a series of negative values. On the contrary, the National Statistics Institute reports a jump in the producer price index in China, with an increase in March of 4.4% which cancels the 1.7% gain in February. The prices of raw materials – primarily oil and ferrous materials – have been discharged on final goods, materializing one of the main dangers for the Chinese economic recovery: the increase in the cost of living.
The surge in consumer prices
The National Statistics Institute also reports the increase in consumer prices (CPI) which rose to + 0.4% in March, from minus 0.2% in February. The data exceeded expectations, a Bloomberg poll predicted a 3.6% increase.
Loading…
Commodities are on the stand with a 1.6 increase in the PPI with a 0.8 CPI increase. On an annual basis in March, consumer prices increased by 0.4%. On a monthly basis, the increase was 0.5%.
Inflation returned to positive territory, therefore, after a -0.2 on an annual basis in February. To go back to 0.4 in March. Consumer prices therefore returned to growth after a two-month break.
Rising producer prices
The price of pork and food products has dropped after the Spring Festival parenthesis, at the moment food still seems safe from the backlash.