Fine tuning the nation's macro-economic policy is posing new challenges for the central bank's with a senior bank official calling for balanced thinking between economic growth and inflation control.

"The global economic slowdown will have a long lasting negative impact on China's economic growth", said Su Ning, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and chief of the bank's Shanghai bureau.

Therefore, the financial authority should weigh prudently between inflation control and maintaining steady but relatively fast economic growth in its monetary policy, according to Su.

Currently, China's economy maintains a healthy upward momentum and is developing in line with the expected direction of macro-control, Su said. However, many problems and troubles still exist in the economy and cause challenges to sound economic growth.

According to Su, the art of balance is essential in order to bring price hikes under a reasonable range which is affordable by society, while preventing harmful fluctuations within the nation's economy.

(China Daily August 1, 2008)