Chinese restrictions meant to contain Covid-19 have driven up prices of vegetables and other food, the latest inflation figures show. Prices of fresh vegetables are 24% higher than a year ago, the April consumer price index released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics shows. The rate of increase is nearly 7 percentage points higher than March’s numbers.
Fresh fruit and potatoes are 12%-14% more expensive. The overall CPI rose 2.1%, the fastest pace in five months. China’s strict zero-COVID measures to combat the pandemic — which have taken their starkest form in the lockdown imposed on Shanghai — are driving this inflation.
Source: freemalaysiatoday.com
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