Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for long-term public sector pay deals to keep a lid on inflation and maintain economic stability.

At his first Downing Street news conference of the year, Mr Brown said ministers would be working with the professions to consider long-term deals as an "option for the future".

Flanked by Chancellor Alistair Darling, he said the Government was committed to maintaining the "fundamentals of stability and growth" in the economy.

He said the "difficult" decision to stage public sector pay awards had helped "break the back" of inflation last year, but they now needed to build on that.

"To send out the best possible message about long-term inflation and about stability and to be fair to public sector workers, one way forward is a move towards long-term public sector pay settlements," he said.

"While this will not be appropriate in all cases, we will be working, where relevant, with the professions to consider this option for the future.

"We as a Government are firmly committed to maintaining the fundamentals of stability and growth."

Mr Brown said he was "vigilant but positive" about the resilience of the economy.

The key to riding out the "global financial turbulence" was maintaining a stable, low inflation economy with the "flexibility" to make the right long-term decisions.

He said it was the low inflation rate which had enabled the Bank of England to cut interest rates at the end of last year.

Mr Brown is hoping to reclaim the political initiative after a bruising end to 2007 saw Labour's ratings plummet.

One poll showed Labour narrowing the Tory lead to just four points compared with an eight-point gap last month but the reduction is almost entirely due to a surge in support for the Liberal Democrats following the election of new leader Nick Clegg.

Mr Brown has also seen his own personal leadership rating fall behind Tory leader David Cameron.

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