China says inflation unchanged at 1.6% in October

[BEIJING] China's inflation came in at 1.6 per cent in October, unchanged from the previous months, the government said Monday.

The consumer price index (CPI) figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) remained at the lowest point since January 2010.

In the first 10 months of the year, the CPI rose 2.1 per cent year on year, well short of the 3.5 per cent annual target set by the government in March.

The producer price index (PPI) - a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate and a leading indicator of the trend for CPI - fell 2.2 per cent year on year and was the weakest since March's fall of 2.3 per cent, the NBS said separately.

The slew of price indicators provided further signs that the world's second-largest economy is still facing deflationary pressures.

Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it encourages consumers to buy before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt growth.

The last PPI increase was in January 2012, when it rose 0.7 per cent.

AFP