![]() In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, annual inflation hit a fresh 21-month high of 7.02 percent, topping both market forecasts and the central bank’s end-2011 target range of 4-6 percent. South Korean consumer inflation in January spiked more than expected above the upper end of the central bank’s target as prices rose across the board, data on Tuesday showed, lifting chances for a back-to-back interest rate increase next week. “Food prices are rising too - though here supply shocks are the main reason - with potentially devastating consequences for low-income countries,” he told an audience in Singapore. “Energy prices are rising swiftly, reflecting rapid growth in emerging economies,” IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. The head of the International Monetary Fund warned rising prices - one of the factors behind anti-government protests in Egypt and Tunisia - could cause social upheaval. “We think it is time now for most central banks to really begin further tightening policy rates, and for the ones who haven’t started yet to begin,” said Leif Eskesen, chief economist for India and Southeast Asia at HSBC. Tuesday’s data was the latest to raise questions over whether central banks and governments in emerging-market countries are doing enough to tame inflation fuelled by rising world commodity prices and a resurgence in domestic economies. ![]() Buildings of the Jianwai SOHO residential and commercial complex are pictured in Beijing, January 26, 2011.
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