China mulls two more rate hikes in Q2

China may raise interest rates two more times in the second quarter in an effort to ease inflationary pressures, state media reported, quoting a chief government economist on Wednesday. The move will follow two previous interest rate hikes and three increases in Chinese banks’ reserve requirement ratios so far this year. Inflation is likely to be 4-5% for the full year, Fan Jianping, head of the economic forecast department at the State Information Center, said – exceeding the government’s target of 4%. China registered annual growth in the consumer price index (CPI) of 4.9% in January and February; economists expect CPI data released this Friday to show inflation accelerating further in March, to above 5%. China’s GDP growth is likely to slow to 9.2% in the first quarter, Fan said, compared with 9.8% growth in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 9.5% growth for the full year 2011.