The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in its continuing effort to rein in high inflation.

After a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC) on Wednesday, the Fed said in a statement that it raised its benchmark short-term interest rate by zero-point-25 percentage points.

The new target range is four-point-five percent to four-point-75 percent, reaching the highest level in 16 years.

The latest hike marks the eighth and smallest rate increase since last March when the Fed began its aggressive campaign to fight inflation by raising the rate, with jumps of 75 basis points in June, July, September and November before a reduced 50-basis-point hike in December.

After the FOMC meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a press conference that inflation has eased but remains elevated, hinting at further hikes as he explained that ongoing rate increases will be appropriate to bring down yearly inflation to two percent.

The Bank of Korea’s benchmark rate is now one-point-25 percentage points lower than the Fed’s.