'Inflation top risk in China's economy'

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SHANGHAI, June 3 (AFP): Runaway inflation remains the top risk in China's economy as a massive earthquake last month is set to add upward pressure on prices in the short term, the country's central bank said today.

"A comprehensive increase in prices remains the biggest risk for the economy," the financial research institute under the central bank said in a report published in the China Securities Journal.

Factors pushing up domestic prices, such as surging international energy and grain costs, remain unchanged and made controlling inflation-hovering near 12-year highs-an "arduous task," it said.

The report said the May 12 earthquake in southwest China, which left nearly 90,000 dead or missing, could accelerate fixed-asset investment and increase short-term inflationary pressure.