Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on Thursday morning showed a contraction in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the People's Republic for the month of March, marking the second consecutive month of decline.
According to the data, the CPI recorded a year-on-year contraction of 0.1% in March, which was contrary to expectations that anticipated no growth in the inflation rate and a reading of 0%. The March reading was better than that recorded in February, which showed a consumer price contraction of 0.7%.
On the other hand, the Producer Price Index (PPI) continued to decline, with the statistics bureau reporting that the PPI experienced an annual contraction of 2.5% in March, the largest drop in four months, while forecasts had indicated a contraction of only 2.3%.
