http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23687138-20142,00.html
Rowan Callick | May 13, 2008
CHINA'S inflation rose to 8.5 per cent in April, driven by a 22.1 per cent
leap in food prices.
This effectively ends the Government's prospect of confining inflation to
its 4.8 per cent target for 2008.
The consumer price index increase, year on year, reached 8.7 per cent on
February and fell to 8.3 per cent in March, but was back up again last
month.
The producer price index also climbed in April, to 8.1 per cent, a three
and a half year high.
Meanwhile, China's trade surplus increased to $17.78 billion in April,
from $14.29 billion in March.
But the trend is towards higher imports (up 27.9 per cent in the first
four months of the year) and lower exports (up 21.5 per cent).
The trade surplus in the first four months was $61.85 billion, compared
with $67.5 billion a year earlier. Pan Xiangdong, chief economist at
China Securities in Beijing, told Reuters: "Exports slowed, but not by
much. So the trade sector is not as sluggish as the complaints from lots
of exporters would suggest" -- citing rising domestic costs and softening
global demand.
The biggest component of the soaring food price increase in April was
meat and poultry, up 47.9 per cent.
Grain prices were up 7.4 per cent, seafood products up 16.1 per cent,
fresh vegetables 13.6 per cent, and fresh fruit 12.1 per cent. But
non-food prices only rose by 1.8 per cent in April, as in March.
China's share markets did not appear especially perturbed by the return
to an upward trend in inflation. The benchmark index in Shanghai rose
0.37 per cent yesterday and that in Shenzhen 0.66 per cent.
Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, said at the
weekend that tackling inflation would remain the country's top economic
priority.
He complained that efforts by the US and British to put a floor under
their slowdown caused by the sub-prime crisis were making it harder for
China to restrict its soaring inflation, now at a 12-year high.
He said: "Central banks are trying to inject liquidity into the markets
to stop the economy from going into another recession and void panic.
This problem is making matters worse -- this excessive liquidity."
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