China's inflation rises to 4.9%

China’s inflation accelerated in January as prices excluding food rose the most in at least six years, bolstering the case for more interest-rate increases to tame overheating risks in the fastest-growing major economy.

Consumer prices rose 4.9 per cent from a year earlier after a 4.6 per cent December gain, the statistics bureau said on its website today. A separate central bank report showed banks signed 1.04 trillion yuan ($158 billion) in new loans, less than forecast while still the third-highest January total.

“Inflationary pressures haven’t abated and China has already entered into an era of structural inflation,” said Liu Li-gang, an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group economist in Hong Kong.

The acceleration in inflation reflects rising rents, a 48 per cent surge in money supply in two years and increasing domestic demand.