A government think tank said the nation's economy has performed better than expected so far this year and suggested the government remain firm with existing tightening policies instead of launching more, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Sunday.

The State Information Center, a think tank under the nation's top economic planner, said in a recent report that China's economic growth in the first quarter slowed, with both the excessive trade surplus and fast credit growth brought under control. And as the risk of overheating has waned, the government at the moment should stick to its current macro-economic policy instead of introducing new tightening measures. However, the report warned that inflationary pressure still must not be ignored, as investment growth could rebound in the near future. On the other hand, the nation's exports have been slowing down due to reduced overseas demand and the appreciating yuan. Property and stock prices have also fluttered a lot, and might hamper economic gains.

The report also suggested scraping the interest tax to prevent actual value of household deposits from shrinking, so as to boost domestic consumption.

Currently, the benchmark interest rate on one-year deposits is 4.14 percent, while consumer price index (CPI) growth reached 8 percent in the first quarter of this year.

(Chinadaily.com.cn May 5, 2008)