Power demand rises 1.3% in December after 4 months of contraction

After four straight months of contraction in electricity demand that revealed the enormity of the industrial slowdown, the consumption of power increased 1.3% year-on-year in December. This could give some comfort to the government while most high-frequency data are still not suggesting a bottoming out of the economic slowdown.
According to official data released on Tuesday, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted for the fourth consecutive month in November by 1.5%, with electricity generation falling 5.7%.

Till December 15, power consumption was lower than in the year ago period. The consumption has then picked up.