Feb consumer inflation slowed
Feb producer deflation deepened
Inflation will not constrain supportive monetary policy

BEIJING, March 9 Reuters China39;s annual consumer inflation slowed to the lowest rate in a year in February as consumers remained cautious despite the abandonment of strong pandemic controls late in 2022.

Combined with persistence of producer deflation, also reported on Thursday, the data showed price pressure had become no obstacle to more government action to support economic recovery from COVID19 disruption, analysts said.

The consumer price index CPI in February was 1.0 higher than a year earlier, rising at the slowest pace since February 2022, said the National Bureau of Statistics NBS.

The result was well below the median estimate of 1.9 in a Reuters poll and the 2.1 annual rise seen in January.

The government is targeting an average level of consumer prices this year about 3 higher than in 2022.

For monetary policy, which is focused on consolidating the economic recovery and achieving stable upward momentum, there is no constraint from an inflation rate that is within the policy target, said Bruce Pang, chief economist for greater China at JLL, commenting on the data.

Zhiwei Zhang, president of Pinpoint Asset Management, said the figures conflicted with other data that showed considerable strength in domestic demand.

Nonetheless, the weak CPI inflation opens room for the government to launch more monetary easing policies, he said….