Inflation eased to its lowest level in August since June last year, giving the government more policy leeway to prevent an economic slowdown.

The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 4.9 percent year-on-year, compared to 6.3 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

The CPI has been sliding since May, but still many economists were caught by surprise by last month's drop because they had forecast it to be above 5 percent. The month-on-month fall was only 0.1 percent.