Continuing its struggle against runaway consumer prices, the State Bank of Pakistan has raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 13 percent. The central bank has warned that failure to do so would hurt the economy even more as inflation remains rampant owing to excess money supply and continuous rise in food and fuel prices. Governor State Bank Shamshad Akhtar announced an increase in a monetary policy statement that focused heavily on what she called a 'totally unsustainable' level of government borrowing. "Hence considering the risk related to rising external current account and fiscal deficit and worsening inflation outlook, the State Bank has decided to raise the policy rate in line with the market expectation by 100 basis points to 13 percent," Akhtar said.