Central bank releases third quarter GDP, inflation figures

The central bank said it expects GDP to grow more than 11% and the inflation rate to hit 4.5% this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The forecasts were made by the People's Bank of China in its third-quarter monetary policy report. GDP grew 11.5% in the first three quarters, compared to last year's total 11.1% increase. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, increased 4.1% in the first three quarters, compared to the 1.5% rise in 2006. The central bank said it would deploy a "moderately tight" monetary policy and take "appropriate" tightening measures to prevent the economy from overheating for the rest of the year.