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China's consumer inflation at 2.3 percent in July as forecast

[August 09, 2014]  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's consumer inflation came in as forecast at 2.3 percent rise, data showed, reinforcing bets that benign price pressures will give authorities room to relax monetary policy if needed.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday also pointed to stubborn deflationary pressures among producers and manufacturers.

The producer price index fell 0.9 percent for the 29th consecutive month, in line with forecasts for a 0.9 percent decline.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected consumer inflation to be steady at 2.3 percent in July, unchanged from June.

On a monthly basis, consumer inflation ran at 0.1 percent in July, as forecast.

China's economy has had a rocky year as growth faltered on unsteady foreign and domestic demand.

An initial brightening in the economic outlook in the past month as factory activity picked up was quickly eclipsed by surprisingly weak growth in imports and the services sector, raising questions about whether authorities need to do more to lift activity.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Pete Sweeney)

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