S. Korea raises interest rate to 1.5% as inflation worries intensify

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.5 percent, the highest level in nearly three years, as it seeks to combat inflation pressure fueled by surging commodity prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board raised the rate by 0.25 percentage point as the country’s consumer prices jumped 4.1 percent in March from a year earlier, rising at their fastest in more than a decade. It is the first rate hike since January, bringing it up to a level not seen since July 2019, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy tries to ensure…

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