the swedes raised today and signalled a couple more rate hikes as well for 2008. the ecb are going to hike as well today. HELLO MR BERNANKE DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE FUCKING POINT HERE. WHEN THERE IS INFLATION YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE FEDERAL FUNDS RATE UP REGARDLESS OF HOW BAD THE ECONOMY IS. BRING BACK VOLCKER. Sweden's central bank raised the benchmark interest rate to a 12-year high of 4.5 percent and said it will probably need to rise further, risking deepening an economic slowdown in a bid to cap inflation. The Stockholm-based Riksbank's decision to raise the one-week repo rate by a quarter point was forecast by fourteen of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The others expected no change. ``The substantial rises in food and oil prices risk leading to other prices rising too quickly,'' the central bank said in a statement. ``The repo rate needs to be raised now and on a couple of further occasions during the year to bring inflation back towards the target a couple of years ahead.'' Rising energy and food prices are pushing up inflation worldwide, prompting Norway to raise its key rate last week and the European Central Bank to indicate it may follow suit today. Swedish policy makers are prioritizing inflation, which accelerated to the fastest pace in 14 years in May, even after economic growth slowed in six of the past seven quarters. ``Inflation is already high and it's going to go higher,'' Dominic Bryant, an economist at BNP Paribas in London, said before today's decision. Swedish consumer prices rose 4 percent in the year through May, the fastest pace since December 1993 and twice the central bank's target, mirroring the trend in the euro area. The ECB will raise its benchmark rate to 4.25 percent later today, according to all but one of 58 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Slowing Down Inflation and economic growth have been worse than the central bank expected when it published its monetary policy update in April, First Deputy Governor Irma Rosenberg said on June 13. The Swedish economy grew an annual 2.2 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in four years. Retail sales rose at the slowest annual pace in more than seven years in April and May, while consumer confidence slipped to the lowest in almost 12 years in June. Unemployment will rise next year as economic growth cools and higher inflation weighs on demand, Finance Minister Anders Borg said last month. Ford Motor Co. decided to cut 2,000 jobs mainly at its Volvo car business in Sweden last week. It follows similar cutbacks at Ericsson AB, the world largest maker of wireless networks, and TeliaSonera AB, Sweden's biggest phone operator, this year. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amOsmBbfJFdk&refer=home