Prices of live pigs and eggs led the hike in China's corporate goods prices in May, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, reported on Tuesday.

 

The price of live pigs soared 58.5 percent year on year and that of eggs 46.7 percent, according to a report on the corporate good price index (CGPI) released by the central bank.

 

The CGPI, previously called the wholesale price index, reflects price changes in products traded by corporations, and traces overall price fluctuations together with the consumer price index (CPI).

 

The index was up 5.1 percent year-on-year in May, said the report.

 

Prices of farm produce rose 11.3 percent, with wheat up eight percent, corn 16.5 percent and soybean 7.2 percent.

 

Ferrous metals prices rose 8.6 percent and that of steel up 7.2 percent.

 

The price of alumina was down 21.8 percent year-on-year but still 3.3 percent higher than April. Crude oil prices dipped 5.3 percent over a year earlier yet were 10.3 percent higher than the previous month.

 

Consumer prices also reached the highest monthly level in more than two years, with the consumer price index, or CPI, a key indicator of inflation, surging 3.4 percent, according to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

 

Growing inflation is also reflected in the producer prices index (PPI), which grew 2.8 percent year-on-year in May, mainly driven by a 3.6 percent rise in procurement prices of raw materials and energy, according to NBS figures.

 

The State Council has urged local governments to keep a close eye on pork supplies.

 

In Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province in northeast China, the local government has decided to offer monthly subsidies of as much as 25 yuan to each of 46,000 low-income families for two months.

 

East China's Shanghai Municipal government is considering whether or not it should raise the previous 40-yuan subsidy to 45 yuan for each impoverished family in the city.

 

In Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province in the south, poor families will enjoy an allowance of 20 yuan per household from May to July.

 

Hubei, Hunan, Liaoning and other provinces are also considering extra subsidies for low-income people.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)