China inflation misses Beijing target

China’s inflation data for March produced small positive surprises, but remained tepid, with little sign that Beijing’s easing measures to date have significantly cut worrisome deflationary pressure.

That has led many to predict more easing measures in the pipeline, including more cuts to reserve requirement ratios for banks, although there is debate over how effective those might be at juicing inflation.

In March, China’s annual consumer inflation rate (CPI) stayed flat at 1.4%, above a poll’s projected 1.3% level. Producer prices (PPI) fell slightly less than projected, contracting by 4.6% rather than the forecasted repeat of February’s 4.8% pace.