China’s inflation rate, a recent cause of concern at home and abroad, began to ease in August, after hitting a three-year high in July, the Los Angeles Times reports:
The National Bureau of Statistics said Friday that the country’s consumer price index rose 6.2% last month from the previous August. That was down from 6.5% in July, which was a 37-month high.
Though inflation remains well above the government’s 4% annual target, analysts said the problem may have peaked, reducing the need for the government to employ tightening measures that could slow its economy.
“The moderation in the CPI reading is encouraging and could give the government more policy leeway at a time when market concerns have shifted toward the potential for slower growth in the global economy,” said Jing Ulrich, JP Morgan’s chairman of global markets for China.
Falling food prices were largely responsible for tempering inflation last month, rising 13.4% from a year earlier compared with 14.8% in July.
