Soaring Inflation Rocks China

Food prices feeding public unrest
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:36 AM CDT
Soaring Inflation Rocks China
A Chinese man checks out the groceries prices list on display outside a market store in Beijing, China, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007. China's inflation rate this year is likely to exceed the government's 3 percent target, a central bank deputy governor said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)   (Associated Press)

China's soaring inflation rate is the highest in a decade, putting pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates for the fifth time in six months to cool China's superheated economy. Food prices have jumped 18%, raising fears of public unrest., Bloomberg reports. Consumer prices rose across the board 5.6% in July from a year ago, and 6.5% in August..

Rents are also rocketing. The trade gap widened 33 percent to $24.97 billion in August, the second-highest monthly total ever.  The stock and property bubbles could get bigger and "eventually crash," warned a top economist. "The government should do something significant like raising interest rates to signal they're serious.'' (More China stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X