SEOUL-- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday that there is a need to reduce wages of public officials to tackle red-hot inflation.

"Public officials should lower their wages to some extent by tightening fiscal policy," Han told lawmakers at a parliamentary meeting.

When soaring inflation comes from both sides of supply and demand, Han said, "Everyone has to sacrifice their part."

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho has urged private firms to refrain from excessively raising paychecks, warning that such wage increases could fuel inflation.

Asked about Choo's remarks, Han said the government is in a "difficult position" to ask private firms to join measures to tame inflation.

Consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in almost 24 years in July due to high energy and food prices.

Consumer prices soared 6.3 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 6 percent on-year spike in June, according to government data.

Source: Yonhap News Agency