Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday that the country's local government debts are at an overall safe and controllable level, according to a report on cri.cn, the website of China Radio International.

"We have strengthened auditing of local government debts and undertaken a series of measures to strengthen management and to control risks," Li said at the opening ceremony of the 21st Congress of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions held Tuesday in Beijing.

"China's deficit ratio is currently at 2.1 percent, and we will continue to strictly control the deficit ratio," he said.

Li also noted that it is difficult to maintain double-digit growth in the country's fiscal revenues given the slowdown of the Chinese economy, so it requires the government to keep the fiscal deficit and the debt scale within a reasonable range to sustain economic growth.

Li's comments came on the heels of similar views expressed by Liu Jiayi, the auditor general of the National Audit Office (NAO), who was quoted as saying by Chongqing Economic Times in a report on Tuesday that China is capable of resolving its local government debts.

The absolute amount of debts should not be the only criteria for evaluating risks, as there have yet to be any globally acknowledged warning levels, Liu told reporters late Monday, according to the report.

The majority of China's government debts have been used to fund livelihood-related investment in fields such as education, healthcare, infrastructure construction, Liu said.

"We're capable of resolving the debts according to our previous audits," he said.

The NAO has launched a nationwide audit of government-related debt since August.

Earlier data from the NAO showed that the country's local government debts were 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) at the end of 2010.

In response to local government debt concerns, the central government may decide next month on an expansion of a trial program allowing bond sales by local governments, Reuters reported Sunday.

Forecasting no imminent debt crisis in the country, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists led by Lu Ting said in a note sent to the Global Times earlier this month that "to maintain both economic growth and financial stability, China should avoid simplistic deleveraging and debt reduction."

The economists suggested "instead, based on its unique debt structure, the country should deleverage its local governments while leveraging up the central government."