China May Delay Rate Increase to 2011, Economists Say

China’s accelerating inflation may fail to convince policy makers to raise interest rates this year because food costs, not surging credit, are fueling price gains.

The benchmark one-year lending rate will remain at 5.31 percent, with the deposit rate at 2.25 percent, according to the median estimates in Bloomberg News surveys of economists after August economic data released Sept. 10-11. The yuan may gain about 1.4 percent to 6.65 per dollar, the forecasts also show.