Uncertainties still exist over China's future price trend, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on Tuesday.

The probable investment rebound will lead to rising prices of raw materials, fuel and power, which will be further exacerbated by the ongoing reform of China's resource-pricing systems concerning fuel, water, power, natural gas and coal, said the bank in a report on monetary policy.

The prices of durable consumer goods as well as steel, iron, aluminium and cement products, however, will probably fall due to oversupply, dragging down the producer price index (PPI) and consumer price index (CPI) in the country, the report said.

According to a survey by the central bank in the fourth quarter of 2005, 41.7 percent of the urban residents predicted price rises, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, and 4.3 percent of the urban residents predicted price drops, down 1.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.

Source: Xinhua