South Korea´s central bank on Thursday raised its key interest rate for the first time in more than three years, aiming to tighten money supply to combat inflation worsened by the intensifying war in the Middle East and slow the growth of the country´s high household debt. Following a monetary policy meeting, the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark policy rate by a quarter percentage point from 2.5% to 2.75% in the first hike since January 2023. [...]