China's central bank warned of imported inflation risks from higher global oil and commodity prices, but pledged to maintain "moderately loose" monetary policy to support economic growth.
The People's Bank of China said in its first-quarter monetary policy report that imported inflation risks require "close monitoring."
The central bank said higher oil and commodity prices have had some impact on the recent rebound in China's price indicators, which it said was also boosted by the recovery of effective demand and more orderly market competition.
China's factory-gate inflation ended its grueling near four-year stretch of falling prices in March and soared to a 45-month high in April, according to official data released on Monday. The country's consumer inflation was also lifted by higher oil prices, offsetting a deeper decline in food prices.
Despite the world's second-largest economy posting 5.0% growth in the first quarter, the expansion was uneven, relying more on exports than on domestic demand.
That made the central bank reaffirm its stance of maintaining "moderately loose" monetary policy in the months ahead, according to the report released late Monday.
The PBOC said it would treat stable economic growth and a reasonable rebound in prices as important policy considerations in its decision-making.
China has set a consumer inflation target at around 2% this year, but in the first four months, the consumer-price index only rose 0.9%, well below the target.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-11-26 2256ET
