Policymakers in emerging markets are scrabbling wildly in the anti-inflation toolbox. Some of the choices they are making will create longer-term problems.

The scale of the challenge varies. Food accounts for between a quarter and a third of consumer price index baskets in developing economies. During the first three months of 2008, says JPMorgan, the average percentage of headline inflation explained by food was 37 per cent in Latin America and 63 per cent in emerging Asia. Similarly, rising energy prices are contributing less to inflation in Latin America than Asia.