BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation eased to 2.1 percent in March from February's 3.2 percent data showed on Tuesday, below market forecasts and leaving policymakers room to keep monetary conditions loose to support a burgeoning economic recovery.
The National Bureau of Statistics also said that China's producer prices dropped 1.9 percent in March, sharper than an annual drop of 1.6 percent in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast March inflation to eased to 2.4 percent and factory gate prices to fall 1.8 percent from a year earlier.
Month-on-month consumer prices fell 0.9 percent versus the market consensus call for a 0.6 percent drop.
(Reporting By China Economics Team; Editing by Nick Edwards)
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