China June inflation flat as economy struggles

AFP :
Chinese inflation was flat last month while producer prices sank more than expected, official data showed Monday (10 July), in the latest sign of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.
The consumer price index for June was down from the 0.2% seen in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, and was worse than expected as domestic demand slowed.
A 7.2% annual drop in the cost of pork, the staple meat in China, as well as falling oil prices that made transportation cheap, dragged down the cost of the essential goods basket, the NBS said.
Producer prices — which measure the cost of goods at the factory gate — tumbled 5.4% on-year, following a 4.6% slide in May.
Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected prices to sink 5%.

Poor global demand and a steep drop in raw material costs have also put downward pressure on factory prices, the NBS said.