Experts Say CPI May Grow 1.8% in Jan

BEIJING, Feb. 3 -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, may rise by 1.8 percent in January over the same month from the previous year, experts predicted.

Experts also said the rise would be similar to the previous month, the Economic Information Daily reported.

Zhu Jianfang, chief macroeconomist with CITIC Securities believed CPI would grow 1.8 percent year-on-year in January. Zhu also predicted it would grow 0.8 percent compared with December 2009. The price of vegetables, fruits and aquatic products surged because of the bad weather and led to the CPI rise in January, Zhu said.

Dong Xianan, chief macroeconomic analyst with Industrial Securities also believed CPI would grow 1.8 percent year-on year in January as food prices kept rising, the newspaper said.

The price of household appliances and services, medical health care, traffic and communication and residence would be higher compared with December of last year, said Lu Zhengwei, a senior economist at Industrial Bank, who also predicted CPI would rise in January.

China's CPI began to rise by 0.6 percent in November of 2009, the first year-on –year rise since last January. Analysts feared the continually rising consumer prices could make controlling inflation a challenging task in 2010.