At its last policy meeting, the Monetary Board lifted the benchmark rate to 5.5%, its highest level since January 2009. The hike matched the US Federal Reserve’s latest tightening on Wednesday.

The central bank’s move, which follows a 75-basis-point increase last month, comes as the country’s inflation accelerated to 8% in November, its fastest pace since 2008. The latest data put the 11-month average at 5.6%, well above the 2% to 4% inflation target.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr early this month described the country’s inflation as “rampant and out of control”.

The central bank has so far raised its key rate by 3.5 percentage points this year, as it also tries to ease the downward pressure on the Philippine peso from the Fed’s rate increases.

The currency plunged to a record low of 59 against the dollar in October, but it has since stabilized at the 55 levels this month after the central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market.