| It used to be a fairly safe bet that weak Chinese growth numbers would spark government stimulus measures, thereby boosting commodity import demand and prices. While the soft first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers may well result in a relaxation of monetary policy and measures to boost infrastructure spending, it's also likely that commodity volumes and prices won't respond much.
GDP rose 7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, in line with forecasts but still the slowest rate in six years. But in many ways China doesn't really look like an economy growing at 7 percent, with exports plunging in March, power generation dropping 3.7 percent, the biggest fall since 2008, and a host of other indicators pointing to sluggish growth...............................................Full Article: Source
|