Tight monetary policy must not be relaxed

In January, the consumer price index (CPI) surged to 7.1 percent, creating a record in 11 years. Food prices, which account for one-third of the CPI basket, grew 18.2 percent, with pork prices up by 58.8 percent and poultry prices up 41.2 percent.

The figures suggest that consumer prices will continue to rise this year and the trend will be fairly difficult to contain within a short period.

Since the subprime crisis in the United States emerged last year, its influence has caused turbulence in the global financial market. Concern is mounting over possible economic recession in the US or even across the world.