DEPUTY central bank governor Su Ning said Thursday that China faced greater price pressures than before but played down the risk that inflation could get out of control.

“Although we are confronted by widespread price increases, there will be no hyperinflation,” Su said, citing China’s ability to increase supplies and its improved ability to handle inflation, which is near 12-year highs.

Most categories of goods were in oversupply or were plentiful enough to meet demand, Su told a China-India forum. Inflationary pressure stemmed principally from high global grain and commodity prices, he said.

Restating the government’s official stance, Su said fighting inflation was the top priority of the government, which would stick to a tight monetary policy and a prudent fiscal policy.

The problem of excessive bank lending and investment had not been fundamentally resolved, Su said. However, he did not rule out fine-tuning of monetary policy where appropriate.

This week’s devastating earthquake in Sichuan had created even more uncertainty for the Chinese economy and made it more complicated to implement macroeconomic controls, he said.

But Su said the impact of the disaster would be limited and short-lived.

The People’s Bank of China would make greater use of the yuan’s exchange rate to curb inflation and keep using a variety of tools to mop up liquidity, Su said, echoing the central bank’s first-quarter monetary policy report released Wednesday. (SD-Agencies)