The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, stated that fighting inflation would remain the top priority for the country during the second half of the year. In a statement on its website, the People's Bank of China, or PBOC, says, quote, "fighting inflation will remain the top priority for China during the second half of the year, and the relations between maintaining stable growth, adjusting economic structure and managing inflationary expectations will be better handled." The bank adds that the nation will continue its prudent monetary policy during the second half, and make its macroeconomic regulation better targeted, more flexible and forward looking. The country will also make full use of its macro-control tools, including interest rates, exchange rates, open market operations and reserve requirement ratios, to keep the reasonable pace and scale of social funding. According to the statement, China will continue to optimize credit structure and give further financial support to small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as micro enterprises. The Chinese government is currently trying to balance the need for healthy growth with attempts to control inflation. Official data show that the country's economic growth slowed to 9.5% in the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the consumer price index or CPI, a main gauge of inflation, reached 6.4% in June, the highest level in three years. The government is targeting an economic growth rate of 8% for this year and plans to keep annual consumer price increases at around 4%. To put a lid on price hikes, the central bank has raised its benchmark interest rates three times this year and increased its reserve requirement ratio six times.