BEIJING: China’s consumer price growth slowed in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Sunday, giving the central government room for further monetary stimulus to stabilise economic growth.
The consumer price index (CPI) — a main gauge of inflation — rose 1.9 percent on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said, lower than May’s 2.0 percent but higher than the 1.8 median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it pushes buyers to act before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt growth.
Food prices fell 1.4 percent month-on-month, the data showed, weighing down the overall inflation figures.
The world’s second largest economy expanded last year at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century as Beijing strives to effect a difficult transition in its growth model away from reliance on exports and fixed-asset investment towards one driven by consumers.