(Finance) – Inflation accelerated in China in July 2022, with the figure on an annual basis which, however, is lower than expected. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, inflation has experienced a trend increase of 2.7% after 2.5% in June and is lower than the 2.9% expected by analysts. This is the highest increase in the past two years, largely due to theincrease in pork costs (which increased by 20.2%).
L’core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, remains subdued, slowing to 0.8% in July. China has set a consumer inflation target of “around 3%” for the whole of 2022.
Compared to the previous monthon the other hand, consumer prices showed an increase of 0.5%, substantially in line with the consensus, after the previous -0.2%.
“Inflation increased only marginally, less than the market expected. The market was expecting a faster pace of inflation in July because food prices such as pork and vegetables increased dramatically in July and these prices can be observed on a daily basis. “said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“But non-food prices actually fell in July from their June level, reflecting weak domestic demand,” he added. This is consistent with weak PMI data. Covid outbreaks in many cities and a lack of further political stimulus they may have led to weaker growth in July. “
Slow down the growth of producer prices. Prices in August showed a tendential increase of 4.2% after the + 6.1% in June. The figure is lower than the expected + 4.8%.