BEIJING (Reuters) - China's uneven economic recovery signals a looming dilemma for policymakers as official data released at the weekend showed inflation at a 10-month high in February while factory output and consumer spending were weaker than forecast. Data from China's National Bureau of Statistics showed the consumer price index rose 3.2 percent in February from a year ago, versus expectations of a 3.0 percent rise, while annual industrial production (IP) growth in January and February combined at 9.9 percent was the lowest since October 2012 - the starting point of China's nascent economic recovery. The NBS numbers revealed state-mandated fixed asset investment (FAI) was the key driver of economic growth in the first two months of the year, up 21.2 percent and the strongest in 12 months, while annual retail sales growth of 12.3 percent was the slackest January and February combined since 2004.
Reported by Firstpost 6 hours ago.
↧