China's central bank governor hinted Saturday that the exchange rate for country's currency — the yuan — could be loosened in the near future.

In an interview with the weekly magazine Caixin, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said the bank was close to reaching its goal of allowing the yuan to be converted at market-determined exchange rates.

Beijing's trading partners, including the United States, have long criticized its exchange rate, saying it is kept artificially low, causing massive trade deficits between some countries and China.

On inflation, Zhou said the outlook has improved and the task of keeping prices down would not be as urgent in 2012.