China Growth May Cool in Boost for Wen’s Inflation Campaign

China’s growth probably slowed in the first quarter, helping to defuse the risk of overheating in an economy where inflation is estimated to be running at its fastest pace since 2008.

The government will report tomorrow that gross domestic product rose 9.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists, down from last year’s peak rate of 11.9 percent. Data today showed that new loans were 679.4 billion yuan ($104 billion) in March and M2 money supply rose 16.6 percent from a year earlier.