Pork is sold at a market. (File photo/Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) -- China's consumer prices will increase only moderately in the rest of 2016 despite soaring prices for vegetables and meat early in the year, said Zhao Chenxi, a spokesman for National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top economic planner.
The consumer price index rose more than 2 percent year-on-year both in February and March, causing concerns of inflation.
In a NDRC press conference on Wednesday, Zhao said the price increase in agricultural products is due to a number of reasons, but that the trend is not continuous or comprehensive.
He said the market supply of vegetables accelerated with the spring cold snap in southern China over, so prices are expected to drop gradually beginning mid-April.
The spike in pork prices -- a major Chinese food staple -- is not likely to continue by summer due to weaker demand and falling costs in raising pigs, Zhao added.
He said grain prices will stabilize or even fall a bit due to an increase in grain output for the 12nd straight year and newly amended support policies.
The producer price index, a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate, declined for the 49th straight month in February as prices for raw materials remain at lower levels.
