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SHANGHAI - CHINA'S government has set an initial target for inflation next year of between three and 4.8 per cent, state media reported on Wednesday.
The target, if confirmed, might suggest Beijing is less pessimistic about the prospects for 2009 than many independent observers, who believe the economic slowdown could cause prices to fall early in the year.
'The target for price increases next year will be higher than the target for 2007 of three per cent but less than the 4.8 per cent in 2008,' an unnamed source told the 21st Century Business Herald.
The source attended an internal meeting last week of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top state economic planner, according to the paper.
China's consumer price index, a gauge of inflation, grew 2.4 per cent year on year in November, its slowest pace in almost two years.
Some economists have worried that China will face deflation in 2009, a situation where consumers and businesses postpone buying on hopes for even lower prices in future and in turn slow down the economy even further. -- AFP
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