China: An Approved Price Increase

For the first time since Beijing imposed a temporary ban in January on all price increases for essential items, China's National Development and Reform Commission has allowed a price rise application to slip through. In reality, this ban was more effective at calming social unrest ahead of March’s politically sensitive National People’s Congress than resolving China's inflation problem at the root. Going forward, the government will have to look for other, more effective ways of curbing inflation — if none is found, a temporary ban will likely be reimposed.