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Falling food and fuel prices lead to negative inflation

Transport made up the largest negative contribution to the figures, with lower fuel costs driving a 0.4 per cent fall, followed by a 0.25 per cent fall in food and non-alcoholic beverages.

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The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 per cent in September from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday, down from August’s 2 per cent.

“In other words, there has been little to no inflation during 2015”.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation fell from zero in August to minus 0.1 per cent. Japan’s producer prices have been falling for 6 months.

In the USA, consumer price information, initial jobless claims numbers and the Philly Fed Business Index are released.

The ONS figures also showed that the retail prices index fell to 0.8 per cent in September from 1.1 per cent the previous month.

The monthly CPI drop was mostly caused by lower food (especially fruit and vegetable) price inflation, which eased to 2.7% year on year from 3.7%.

Data on Tuesday showed imports plunged by a fifth year on year in September as slowing growth wreaks havoc on global commodities prices. “PPI inflation should remain in deep negative territory (below -4% y-o-y) due to overcapacity, although it may improve slightly from Q3 due to a lower base in Q4 2014”, Zhao said.

It will spare borrowers higher repayment costs, but continue to hurt savers whose nest eggs have been eaten away by years of low rates. The data underlined economists’ expectations that China’s economy grew at a slower rate than the government’s targeted 7% in the third quarter of 2015, its weakest pace since the first quarter of 2009.

Retail food inflation for September came in at 3.88 percent, higher than a provisional 2.20 percent in August.

However, the BOE chief has maintained that the likely timing of a rate hike is drawing closer amid growth in wages.

Nomura said it expected another cut to the Chinese central banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) late this year and another four in 2016, each by 50 basis points, together with two more interest rate cuts of 25 basis points each next year.

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Also, acceleration in industrial growth as reflected in the jump of IIP by 6.4 per cent in August from 4.1 per cent in July raises hopes of a revival in the economy.

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