Call to raise global interest rates

GLOBAL interest rates must rise to avoid high inflation becoming entrenched, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said yesterday.

The body also warned that delaying deficit cuts could risk intensifying the sovereign debt crisis and could have grave consequences were investors to lose confidence in a major economy such as the US.

“With the arrival of sharper price increases for food, energy and other commodities, inflation has become a global concern,” the BIS said in its annual report.