China's Inflation and the Pig Factor

An original cause was blamed for the dramatic increase in inflation in China over the past few months. Some analysts claim the culprit is no other than the pigs. It turns out that pork is a major factor in the food price index in China which had a strong effect on the inflation rise. A recent disease plaguing the countries pork supply brought prices higher as well as the increase in corn prices which are used to feed the pork.
The Chinese inflation level for May was 3.4% higher than the previous year’s corresponding month and the inflation level for April was 3% higher than April 2006.