Central banks in Indonesia and the Philippines increased benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday. It is the latest sign of policymakers attempting to contain soaring inflation driven by rocketing oil and food prices.

Manila’s move, which took rates up to 5.25 per cent, was its first in three years. It came hours after the government announced year-on-year inflation had hit a nine-year-high of 9.6 per cent.