1998年上半年国内生产总值比上年同期增长7％，商品零售价格总水平下降2．1％，居民消费价8总水平下降0．3％，人民币汇率保持稳定。尽管经济增长速度有所减慢，但在全球范围内仍然是高速度与周边一些国家货币大幅度贬值、物价高涨、经济衰退形成鲜明对照。今年上半年，我们集 In the first half of 1998, the GDP increased by 7% over the same period of the previous year, the overall retail price of merchandise dropped by 2.1%, and the general consumer price 8 dropped by 0.3%. The RMB exchange rate remained stable. Although the rate of economic growth has slowed down, it remains at a high speed on a global scale in sharp contrast with the sharp devaluation of currencies in some neighboring countries, rising prices and the economic downturn. In the first half of this year, we set