“A Chinese manufacturing index declined in April from March, indicating that growth may moderate in the world’s second-biggest economy after the government raised interest rates and allowed faster gains in the yuan.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 52.9 from 53.4, China’s logistics federation and the statistics bureau said in an e-mail yesterday. That was below a median forecast of 53.9 in a Bloomberg News survey of 20 economists.
Premier Wen Jiabao’s government aims to counter the fastest inflation since 2008 and cool a real-estate market that has been at risk of price bubbles. Credit Suisse Group AG says the nation’s fifth increase in benchmark rates since the global financial crisis may come as early as today, a Chinese holiday, less than a month after the previous move.
“This slowdown won’t pose a concern as it indicates that Beijing’s tightening measures are taking effect,” said Liu Li-Gang, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong who has worked for the World Bank. “The moderation in economic growth could help to ease inflationary pressure, and inflation should gradually slow in the coming few months.”
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