Entrepreneurs maintain lower expectation for price rise
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
BEIJING, Sept.23 (Xinhua): Chinese businessmen's expectation for price rises moderates, but export order confidence index continues to retreat, according to a survey by the central bank.
The survey involving 5,000 enterprises shows that the indices for overall production material price, raw material purchasing price and production sales price in the third quarter of this year displayed a downward trend, indicating moderated expectation for the speeding up of prices in the future.
Meanwhile, the export order confidence index slid continuously with the domestic order confidence index declining sharply for the first time in the quarter.
The export order index, which reflects external demand, and the export order expectation index for the next quarter went down 2.6 per centage points and 2.2 per centage points, respectively, the lowest level since in July 2005, when China reformed its foreign exchange rate formation mechanism.
The domestic order index, a gauge for domestic demand, slumped by 3.7 per centage points from last quarter, the sharpest decline in the past decade. Affected by the performance of the petroleum-refining sector and utility industry, the overall profitability of the enterprises has weakened. During the first seven months, the aggregate profit of 5,000 businesses monitored by the central bank increased by 7.61 per cent on year, down 33.4 per centage points.
After excluding the aforesaid two industries, the profit of the rest would grow by 33.45 per cent on year, up 12.27 per centage points, according to PBoC analyst.
The survey involving 5,000 enterprises shows that the indices for overall production material price, raw material purchasing price and production sales price in the third quarter of this year displayed a downward trend, indicating moderated expectation for the speeding up of prices in the future.
Meanwhile, the export order confidence index slid continuously with the domestic order confidence index declining sharply for the first time in the quarter.
The export order index, which reflects external demand, and the export order expectation index for the next quarter went down 2.6 per centage points and 2.2 per centage points, respectively, the lowest level since in July 2005, when China reformed its foreign exchange rate formation mechanism.
The domestic order index, a gauge for domestic demand, slumped by 3.7 per centage points from last quarter, the sharpest decline in the past decade. Affected by the performance of the petroleum-refining sector and utility industry, the overall profitability of the enterprises has weakened. During the first seven months, the aggregate profit of 5,000 businesses monitored by the central bank increased by 7.61 per cent on year, down 33.4 per centage points.
After excluding the aforesaid two industries, the profit of the rest would grow by 33.45 per cent on year, up 12.27 per centage points, according to PBoC analyst.