From Financial Times:
Like tens of millions of shoppers across China, Zhou Benqi has had to change her buying habits to cope with sharply rising prices of pork and eggs, staple foods for any Chinese family.
“Because of price hikes, an ordinary meal is a big constraint on us, as my pension has already been eaten into by fees for electricity, water, broadband, gas and so on,” said Ms Zhou, a 53-year-old Shanghai native. “We’ve seen officials talking about adjustment many times, but so far they have failed to control prices.” The spike in food prices, about a third of China’s consumer price index basket, pushed inflation to a 27-month high in May of 3.4 per cent. Many China economists expect the rate to hit 4 to 5 per cent soon and will be closely watching the expected release on Thursday of June CPI data alongside second-quarter gross domestic product figures. [Full Text]
