PBOC advisor: China should end energy price controls
10 July 2008
An advisor to the People's Bank of China said that Beijing should move quickly to eliminate energy price controls, Bloomberg reported. Speaking at an energy forum in Beijing on Wednesday, the advisor, Fan Gang, said the "government should resolve such price distortions as soon as possible." China raised retail fuel prices by at least 17% on June 20 in a bid to improve refiners' margins, ease shortages and encourage production. Analysts expect the move to add as much as 1 percentage point to inflation this year, the newswire service said. Inflation in May stood at 7.7%, down from a 12-year high of 8.7% recorded in February.