China consumer prices show quickest drop in 14 years

BEIJING, Feb 8 — Chinese consumer prices fell in January at their quickest rate in more than 14 years, data showed today, as the country’s leaders struggle to revive buying sentiment in the world’s second-biggest economy. The reading will likely add to calls for officials to do more to breathe life into the economy, with central bank interest rate cuts and measures to boost lending having little impact so far. The 0.8 per cent drop in the consumer price index, revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), marked the fourth straight month of deflation and was much bigger than the 0.5 per cent fall forecast in a survey by Bloomberg News. The reading was the worst since the second…