BEIJING, Oct. 16 -- A period of mild inflation may offer a greater opportunity for further stimulus, economists said after the government reported on Monday that the September consumer price index increased 1.9 percent year-on-year.

The CPI, a key inflation gauge, grew 2 percent in August and hit a two-year low of 1.8 percent in July. The second half of this year has seen low inflation and conditions are ripe for economic recovery in the last quarter, supported by the easing of fiscal and monetary policies since the second quarter, economists said.