BEIJING: China will be able to cap inflation below the full-year target of a 4 percent average rise in prices, the People's Daily said in a front-page editorial published on Monday.
As the main newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily commentary reflects growing confidence in Beijing that the government has inflation in its grasp, despite soaring global fuel prices.
The newspaper cited a number of factors as favorable to slowing the upward momentum of consumer prices, including an oversupply of industrial products, abundant grain stocks and large foreign currency reserves.
"The Party and the State Council are paying close attention to price stability, and we have reason to believe that this year's inflation target can be reached, as long as we take active measures," the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece said.
The implementation of effective policies, including reserve requirement and interest rate increases, had also helped against inflation, the newspaper added.
China has raised interest rates three times and reserve requirements six times since October. Consumer inflation steadied in February at 4.9 percent, though economists expect it to tick up in coming months.
The newspaper also warned that China may face rising risks from imported inflation, as reflected in the mounting industrial production costs.
"We should not relax efforts to manage inflation just because our policies have shown initial results," it quoted Ba Shusong, a government think tank economist, as saying.
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