BEIJING- China’s producer prices rose at the slowest pace in a year in April, despite the surge in global commodity costs, leaving room for more stimulus to shore up the flagging economy, which faces pressure from heavy COVID-19 curbs.
The producer price index (PPI) rose 8.0 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Wednesday, following an 8.3 percent rise in March but faster than the 7.7 percent growth tipped by a Reuters poll.
The consumer price index (CPI) gained 2.1 percent from a year earlier, the fastest pace in five months, speeding up from March’s 1.5 percent growth and beating expectations for a 1.8 percent rise.
The slower rise in the PPI was driven by government measures to stabilize commodity prices and increase supply, the NBS said in a separate statement.
China’s state planner on Tuesday called for stabilizing energy prices and an acceleration in oil and gas exploration and development.
Beijing has targeted daily coal production at 12.6 million tons this year and prioritized energy security in the wake of geopolitical uncertainties caused by the Ukraine conflict.
China’s economy slowed sharply at the beginning of the second quarter, as authorities in dozens of cities imposed restrictions to stamp out COVID-19 outbreaks, with Shanghai currently in its sixth week of lockdown.
The capital city of Beijing, which reported 24 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases for Tuesday, has banned residents from eating inside restaurants and suspended all gyms and offline tutoring classes. — Reuters
