Inflation in China jumped sharply last month, increasing the pressure on the government to begin raising interest rates and allow the renminbi to rise against the US dollar.
Consumer prices rose by 2.7 per cent in February from a year ago, well above January’s 1.5 per cent increase and close to the 3 per cent ceiling that Premier Wen Jiabao set for this year in his speech to the National People’s Congress.
Industrial production also accelerated, increasing by 20.7 per cent for the first two months of 2010 over the year before. The figure came in above analysts’ forecasts and the 18.5 per cent increase recorded in December. Factory-gate prices climbed 5.4 per cent in February against 4.3 per cent the month before.