Growth in China's economy is expected to expand at a rapid rate this year, with inflation ticking higher to 3.2 percent, state media reported yesterday, citing the central bank.
At the same time, minimum wages in China will be increased this year to offset the sharp rise in food prices that has particularly hurt low-income families, state media cited the labor ministry as saying.
The country's GDP should expand 10.8 percent this year, slightly higher than the 10.7 percent last year, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to the bank's research report published in the China Securities Journal.
It said that after the blistering 11.1 percent growth recorded in the first quarter, the second quarter pace of growth should slip to 10.9 percent followed by 10.7 percent and 10.6 percent in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
"The trend in the high growth of gross domestic product should suggest an adjustment, but the extent of a pull-back is unlikely to be large," the bank said.
The People's Bank of China also went on to add that growth in the trade surplus would fall gradually amid faster growth in imports and a decline in exports.
Trade surplus for last month hit US$22.45 billion, up nearly 73 percent from a year earlier and was the second-highest ever behind February's figure of US$23.7 billion.
Recent inflation pressure was expected to ease in the second half, the report said, but was still above the official target of 3.0 percent.
The consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, hit a two year high of 3.4 percent last month, as food prices have accelerated at a much faster pace.
Against this backdrop, Xinhua news agency yesterday cited the Ministry of Labor and Social Security as saying that local governments must raise minimum wages before the end this year in regions where salaries have risen slowly or are markedly lower than the average.
In a circular cited by Xinhua, the labor ministry said that low-income families were particularly feeling the heat after meat and poultry prices jumped by 26.5 percent last month and the cost of eggs rose 37.1 percent.
Premier Wen Jiabao (
In China, minimum wage standards vary from region to region.
At the end of last year, Shenzhen had the highest minimum wage in the country at 810 yuan (US$105) per month, while eastern Jiangxi Province was bottom with a salary of 270 yuan, Xinhua said.
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