Falling food prices drive inflation to 22-month low

Inflation dropped to a 22-month low in November, giving the government more room to further cut the interest rate to boost the economy.

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 2.4 percent year-on-year last month, down from 4 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

Falling food prices were the main contributor to the drop in consumer inflation, which peaked at 8.6 percent in February. Last month, food prices, which account for one-third of the CPI basket, rose 5.9 percent year-on-year, the lowest in almost two years. On a month-by-month basis, they dropped 1 percent.