China Aug CPI, PPI and Fixed Asset Investment

Great relief on CPI, fell to 14 month low 4.9%, fixed asset investment is still robust but PPI is still putting pressure -- stubbornly high at 10%. This is still not a all clear sign the Chinese government will ease their monetary policy. Will have to watch their GDP growth, any sign of weakening to 8-9% will trigger some easing.

BEIJING - China's annual consumer price inflation fell to a 14-month low of 4.9 per cent in August from 6.3 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.


It was the lowest reading since 4.4 per cent in June 2007.

Economists had expected a rate of 5.3 per cent. .

Food prices, which make up a third of the consumer basket, rose 10.3 per cent in August from a year earlier, compared with an increase of 14.4 per cent in July.

Non-food prices rose 2.1 per cent in August from a year earlier, the same pace as in the 12 months to July.

The CPI in the first eight months rose 7.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI fell 0.1 per cent in August from July.

Producer price index
Annual producer price inflation rose to 10.1 per cent in August from 10.0 per cent in July, the NBS said.

Economists had expected a rate of 9.8 per cent.

August's reading was the highest since producer prices rose by 14.9 per cent in 1995. The government did not compile a monthly PPI until 2001.

Food prices rose 7.4 per cent in August from a year earlier, while prices of raw materials, fuel and power were up 15.3 per cent.

The PPI in the first eight months of 2008 rose 8.2 per cent.

Urban fixed asset investment
Urban fixed-asset investment rose 27.4 per cent in the first eight months of 2008 from a year earlier, compared with 27.3 per cent growth in the first seven months, the NBS said.

Economists had expected a 27.2 per cent rise .

Urban investment covers things such as roads, power plants and apartment buildings. Figures on overall fixed-asset investment are released quarterly.

The bureau did not issue a figure for August alone. -- REUTERS