The rate of growth of consumer prices in China in March became the highest for three months amid problems in supply chains due to severe measures to combat coronavirus and the increase in the cost of energy resources.

Consumer prices (CPI) rose 1.5% year-on-year last month, China’s State Statistics Office (SSO) said. The index rose 0.9% in February.

The average forecast of analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal suggested inflation would accelerate to 1.2%.

Non-food items rose 2.2% year-on-year, including industrial consumer goods up 1.1%, transportation and telecommunication services up 5.8%, clothing up 0.6%, and household goods and services up 2.2%.

Meanwhile, food costs fell 1.5%, the lowest since December, mainly due to a drop in pork prices.

Consumer prices were unchanged in March from the previous month after rising 0.6% in February. This was the result of lower consumer demand, the GSA report said. Experts on average expected a decline of 0.1%, Trading Economics wrote.

Meanwhile, producer prices (PPI index) in the PRC last month increased minimally for 11 months – by 8.3% in annual terms after a rise of 8.8% in February. The consensus forecast suggested an 8% increase, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The PPI index in March rose 1.1% from the previous month. In January, the index rose by 0.6%.