South Korea has unexpectedly lifted interest rates in part of what President Lee Myung-bak has called his “all-out war” against inflation.

韩国出人意料地宣布加息，是为该国总统李明博(Lee Myung-bak )所称对抗通胀“全面战争”的措施之一。

Seoul is attacking inflation with the same gusto that characterised its successful measures to confront the economic downturn.

韩国政府对于对抗通胀的重视，与其当初采取措施成功扭转经济下滑时不相上下。

South Korea’s central bank lifted the base rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent, at the same time as the country revealed measures to control prices of food and basic services.

韩国央行将基本利率提升25个基点至2.75%，同时该国宣布了有关控制食品和基本服务价格的措施。

It will cut tariffs on fish imports, accelerate purchases of powdered milk, keep slaughterhouses working longer than normal and monitor the cost of pre-school education. The measures complement earlier plans almost to double the supply of 16 food staples and expand the remit of the Fair Trade Commission to combat price fixing.

韩国将降低鱼类进口关税，增加奶粉进口，延长屠宰场工作时间，监控学前教育成本。此前韩国已经宣布相关计划，近乎将16种主要食品的供应量翻倍，并扩大了韩国公平交易委员会(Fair Trade Commission)的职权范围以打击价格操纵。

The central bank’s monetary policy committee said that it had made its third interest rate rise since July partly because of rising house prices and foreign investment flooding in. “The committee expects inflationary pressures to persist,” it said.

韩国央行货币政策委员会表示，自去年7月份以来三次加息，部分原因在于房价持续上涨，外来投资大量涌入。“委员会预计通胀压力将持续存在，”该委员会说。

The Bank of Korea forecasts that inflation could accelerate to 3.5 per cent this year, rising from 2.9 per cent in 2010. Although many analysts had predicted that Seoul could wait until February to raise the cost of borrowing, economists have also accused Seoul of taking too long to normalise rates after the downturn, risking an overheating of the economy. The central bank had held rates at a record low of 2 per cent for 16 months.

韩国央行预测称，今年的通胀率可能攀升至3.5，高于2010年的2.9。虽然很多分析师曾预测韩国可能要到今年2月才会提高借贷成本，但经济学家也已指责韩国在经济低迷之后太晚恢复正常利率，使得经济面临过热风险。韩国央行曾连续16个月将利率水平维持在2%的创纪录低点。

“The risk is now to the upside, with possibly more to come and perhaps faster than we thought. That is a good thing: rates need to go up in Asia – fast,” said Kim Song-yi, economist at HSBC.

“现在的风险是上行风险，经济增长幅度和速度可能超过我们的预期。这是个好事情，亚洲的利率必须上调——而且是快速上调。”汇丰银行(HSBC)经济学家Kim Song-yi表示。