South Korea and Singapore have become the latest Asian economies to tighten monetary policy to combat inflationary risks stoked by the war in Ukraine.

The Bank of Korea on Thursday increased its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time since August to 1.5 per cent, its highest level in almost three years. The central bank made the decision as inflation in Asia’s fourth-largest economy hit 4.1 per cent in March on a year earlier, more than double the BoK’s target range and up from 3.7 per cent in February.

Separately, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which relies on exchange rate adjustments rather than interest rates to guide monetary policy, said it would raise the midpoint for the Singapore dollar’s trading band and increase the pace at which it allowed the currency to move for the first time in more than a decade.