DHAKA: China’s annual inflation rose sharply to 2.5 percent in May, official data showed on Tuesday, accelerating from 1.8 percent in April and marking the highest figure in four months.

The country’s consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, also increased by 2.3 percent in the first five months of the year from the same period in 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement, reports The Straits Times.

The May figure was the highest since a similar reading in January, and matched the forecast of 2.5 percent in a poll of economists by the Dow Jones Newswires.

Despite the rebound in May, CPI was still well below the 3.5 percent annual target set by Beijing in March.

BDST: 1410 HRS, JUNE 10, 2014