China’s inflation accelerated to 2.3 percent in February, driven by a jump in food prices, but stayed below the government’s official target for the year.
The consumer price rise reported Thursday was up from January’s 1.8 percent. Food prices surged 7.3 percent, up from the previous month’s gain of 4.1 percent.
Inflation is forecast to edge higher this year, though analysts say it is unlikely to reach levels that would hamper plans by Chinese leaders to boost government spending to shore up slowing economic growth.
The government last weekend set this year’s official inflation target at 3 percent.
“The jump in food inflation last month was seasonal and will prove short-lived,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report. “Price pressures elsewhere are likely to pick up in coming quarters but should stop short of becoming a constraint on further policy easing.”
