New Delhi, May 23 (IANS): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday called for a renewed focus on food and energy security, terming both of them a challenge and issues of prime national importance.

He also called for rational pricing of fossil fuels and empowerment of farmers to reduce dependence on imports for food as part of prudent fiscal management.

"As an importer of oil, we have to adopt rational pricing policies," the prime minister said at a dinner for the allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, as it completed two years of its second tenure.

"Equally, we cannot become too dependent on world markets for food," he said as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, among other leaders, listened attentively.

The prime minister said the most important challenge was to sustain growth while keeping inflation under check.

"There are four dimensions to sustainable economic growth: Fiscal, social, ecological and political," he said, while also touching upon the challenges of climate change and good governance.