May inflation falls to 7.7%

Consumer price inflation in China fell to 7.7% in May, Bloomberg reported. Slowing food inflation helped to push the country’s consumer price index (CPI) down from 8.5% in April, which was close to a 12-year high of 8.7% in February. Food prices, which had gained 22.1% in April, were up 19.9% in May, while non-food inflation fell slightly, to 1.7% from 1.8%. However, producer price inflation rose to 8.2% from 8.1% in April. The lower CPI is still above the official target of 4.8% inflation for the year, leading some analysts to suggest the government will allow the renminbi to appreciate more quickly in an attempt to lower costs of imports.