China CPI growth slows to 5.3%, but beats expectations

China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.3% year-on-year in April, down slightly on March’s 5.4% rise but higher than the 5.2% expected by economists, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial production fell more quickly than expected during the month. In combination, the figures increased concerns about price inflation and an economic slowdown. Value-added industrial output in April was up 13.4% y-o-y in April, below the median forecast ot 14.5%. Despite the risk of slowdown, economists said it is too early for Beijing to end its monetary tightening measures as inflation remains a risk. Lending growth is still increasing, and some economists are already calling for the People’s Bank of China to hike reserve requirements again to slow loan growth. However, the producer price index, which measures the prices of primary and secondary factors in production costs, rose 6.8% in April, down from 7.3% in March, below economists’ median forecasts. Retail sales growth also slowed to 17.1% y-o-y, compared to 17.4% in March.