China's soft May inflation boosts case for stimulus

Shanghai

CHINA'S consumer inflation eased while producer prices stayed stubbornly in deflation in May, bolstering the case for fiscal stimulus as the world's second-largest economy shrugs off monetary easing.

Annual consumer inflation eased to 1.2 per cent in May thanks to a sharp drop in food costs, particularly pork, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Tuesday, lower than a forecast 1.3 per cent and the previous month's 1.5 per cent.