Inflation control target, how far to go?

 　　BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Since the beginning of 2011, China has taken a series of measures to cool rising prices, such as introducing a prudent¹ monetary² policy, boosting supply and containing inrrational demand while establishing a price control mechanism³. However, it will be quite difficult to meet the government's annual inflation rate control target, which is around 4 percent for the year.

　　Zhang Ping, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, called for all macro control policies in force to be fully⁴ implemented⁵, as "it could be difficult to keep the consumer price index (CPI) growth below the government's target this year."

　　He made the remarks at a bi-monthly legislative⁶ session of the Standing⁷ Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

　　He expected the country's price level to remain high due to the pressures of excessive global liquidity⁸, imported inflation, higher domestic production costs and temporary shortages of some kinds of farm products, as well as the consequences of natural disasters.

　　He said that the pressures and risks China faces could lift inflationary expectations, and make it hard to meet the price control target.

　　CPI remains⁹ high

　　In the first seven months, the CPI gained 5.5 percent from a year earlier, well above the government's target ceiling of 4 percent for this year.

　　In July, CPI even jumped 6.5 percent year-on-year, reaching its highest level in 37 months, placing the government in a tough position with worsening global liquidity in sight.

　　The Producer Price Index, which is used to calculate inflation at the wholesale¹⁰ level, jumped 7.5 percent year-on-year in July.

　　The stubbornly high inflation rate has been driven by rising food costs, which jumped by 14.8 percent in July from a year ago.

　　The price of pork, a staple¹¹ food in China, soared by nearly 57 percent in July.

　　Addressing a Forum¹² on China's Macroeconomic Conditions and Macro Policies in Singapore, Zhang Liqun, an economist¹³ from the Development Research Center, said he expected the inflation pressure resulting from surging food prices to start easing as supply increases.

　　Grain and rice output in China has been growing steadily¹⁴ in recent eight years and the production capacity of vegetables has also increased as the government has put in place incentive¹⁵ programs.

　　"Generally speaking, the food supply situation has been improving, whereas the demand is basically stable," he said.

　　Tan Kong Yam, director of Asia Competitiveness Institute, the National University of Singapore, said pork prices accounted for as much as 3 percent of the total basket for the CPI in China.

　　"A surge of 50 to 60 percent in pork price would mean a contribution of 1.7 percentage points to the consumer price index, " he noted¹⁶.

　　The CPI in China would be 4.8 percent if the price of pork is excluded, meaning that the CPI has already started to ease, Tan said.

　　"I think the fall of CPI may be sharper than expected when the pork price falls in six to 12 months," he said.

　　The pork price began to surge in the second half of 2010, encouraging farmers to increase their stock. The number of pigs in stock has been increasing as of February, he said.

　　Easing the inflation pressure would be a long and slow process, and experts presume that in August, CPI would be still high.

　　High inflation is expected to stay for some time to come, most probably between 4 percent and 5.4 percent in 2011 and 2012, a team of economists¹⁷ from the Xiamen University in China and the National University of Singapore said in their latest forecasts on the China's economy released on Aug. 20 in Singapore.

1 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

11 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

14 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

15 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》