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China's CPI to fall in August, but at slower rate
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-02 13:17

BEIJING: China's consumer price index (CPI), an important gauge of inflation, might still see a decline in August, but the rate of decrease would be smaller than July's, according to a report released Wednesday by the Bank of Communications (BOCOM), China's fifth largest lender.

The CPI would edge down by around 1.2 percent in August from a year earlier, said the report.

It could be the seventh consecutive month of CPI decline since the index dropped 1.6 percent in February, but the year-on-year decline rate in August would be lower than the 1.8 percent in July, Tang Jianwei, a senior analyst with the Shanghai-based BOCOM, told Xinhua Wednesday.

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"China's CPI might fall 0.5 percent year on year for the whole of 2009. The CPI will probably rebound to growth next year. It is predicted that the CPI in China will rise 4 percent year on year in 2010," Tang said.

The National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to publish the official CPI figure for August on September 11.