Over half of Chinese urban residents expect consumer prices to hold steady in Q2: survey

BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Over half of China's urban residents expect consumer prices to stay unchanged during the second quarter of 2023, said a central bank survey on Monday.

Among the 20,000 urban bank depositors surveyed in 50 cities across China, 54.2 percent said they expect almost no change in consumer prices from April to June, according to the survey conducted by the People's Bank of China.

Some 24.6 percent of respondents think prices may rise in the second quarter, while 9.5 percent forecast declines in prices.

As for the property sector, 18.5 percent of respondents believe housing prices will rise in the second quarter, while 54.1 percent expect prices will barely budge.

Some 14.4 percent of respondents think housing prices will fall in the second quarter, according to the survey.