Inflation in China eased last month due to falling food and commodity costs, with analysts saying that yesterday’s figures give policymakers room to unveil measures to kick-start the stuttering economy, including interest rate cuts.
The producer price index rose a less-than-expected 10.3 percent year-on-year last month, extending a slowdown in November, while the consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of retail inflation, was 1.5 percent — down from 2.3 percent a month earlier and also short of forecasts, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics reported.
The consumer inflation slowdown came on the back of easing vegetable prices, bureau senior statistician Dong