The consumer price index (CPI), which is the main indicator of inflation, ChineseHe slowed his steps again It grew 0.7% year-on-year in March. In February, the indicator had already hit a one-year low, cutting the growth rate to 1% from 2.1% in January.
Strictly speaking, the most common forecast among analysts was that the CPI in March would repeat 1% from February, but the figure finally presented today by the Office for National Statistics (ONE) was 0.3 percentage points below these estimates.
A statistician Dong Lijuan blamed the situation price reductions in gasoline and diesel, and above all in fresh vegetables, down 11.1% year-on-year and 7.2% year-on-year due to greater availability due to higher temperatures. “In March, production… continued to recover and the consumer market was well supplied, so prices fell,” Dong said.
In the monthly comparison, consumer prices fell 0.3% from February, once again beating analysts’ expectations for no change.
ONE also made it public today producer price index (PPI), which measures industry prices and falls 2.5% annually In March, there was a decrease that was 1.1 points more pronounced compared to the previous month, but this time in line with the expectations of experts. Dong reminded that the PPI has been following a downward trend on an annual basis for months with the comparative base effect after the strong inflation rates in the last months of 2021 and the first months of 2022.
In fact, despite the year-on-year decline, this indicator remained unchanged month-on-month for the second consecutive year; Bulk materials in the international market”.