Chinese inflation is hotter than expected

Chinese consumer price inflation edged higher in November, casting doubt on whether additional monetary policy easing will be delivered by the nation's central bank, the PBOC, ahead.

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), CPI increased by 1.5% in the year to November, a rate higher than the 1.3% level of October and expectations for an increase to 1.4%.

An acceleration in food price inflation, rising 2.3% compared to a 1.9% increase in October, was largely responsible for the annual increase. Excluding food, inflation rose 0.2% to 1.1%, the fastest annual increase registered since August 2015.

Despite the uplift in consumer prices, producer price deflation remained as grim as ever. The NBS reported that producer prices fell by 5.9% compared to November 2014, the fourth consecutive month that the figure has remained unchanged.

Demonstrating the lack of price pressures - at least to the upside - producer prices have now fallen in annual terms for the past 45 months.