China’s central bank said on Saturday it will maintain prudent monetary policy to prevent inflation from spreading. In its third quarter monetary policy report, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) also said it was studying plans to switch the benchmark rate for existing loans to the new loan prime rate (LPR). China’s economic growth for the third quarter tumbled to its slowest pace in nearly three decades, under pressure from slowing global demand and the ongoing trade war between China and the US. At the same time, China’s consumer inflation has quickened to a near eight-year high of 3.8 percent, driven in part by soaring pork prices as a result of an outbreak of African Swine Fever in the country, posing a dilemma for the central bank.