GUANGZHOU: The consumer price index (CPI) in Guangdong continued falling in August, the Guangdong Provincial Survey Office under the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

The CPI, the main gauge of inflation, rose 4.8 percent year-on-year, down 1.6 percentage points compared to July.

It was also lower than the national level of 4.9 percent in the same month as announced by the NBS on Wednesday.

However, for the first time this year, the province's CPI was higher than the national average of 6.3 percent in July, reaching 6.4 percent year-on-year.

Analysts attributed the falling index in the province to a "dramatic" fall in food price, which rose 9.7 percent year-on-year last month, lower than the national level of 10.3 percent.

"The food price index, seen as a major contributor to consumer prices, saw a dramatic fall, compared with 14.2 percent in July," said Luo Fengjin, an official with the NBS Guangdong survey office.

"It helps explain why the CPI in the province reached that low this year," Luo told China Daily yesterday.

Specifically, prices of grain and meat in the province were up 9.2 percent and 9.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.

And prices of telecommunications, transportation, garment and culture-related products all rose by less than one percent.

The CPI has been sliding since May, helping illustrate local policy makers' efforts to curb high consumer prices and maintain a steady economic growth.

However, the CPI in Shenzhen rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year in August, higher than the provincial and national average.

Thus, Luo said that inflation in Shenzhen was much serious than other cities, adding food prices there were higher than the national average.

Despite the consecutive drop in the CPI, many analysts predicted that it might see a rebound late this year as the producer price index (PPI), a gauge of factory gate inflation, still rose.

The national PPI rose to a 10.1 percent year-on-year in August. And some analysts said that the continued rise of PPI would gradually affect consumer prices.

As of yesterday, the PPI in Guangdong was not issued. "So, it is hard to make a prediction for the CPI trend in late this year. Nevertheless, the consumer prices, which began climbing last October, have been well controlled," said Luo.

(HK Edition 09/12/2008 page2)