The Reserve Bank has raised its key short-term lending rate by 25 basis points and borrowing rate by 50 basis points to check rising prices. The new rates, which come into effect immediately, were announced as part of the first scheduled mid-quarterly review of the monetary policy. The hike in rates will lead to a rise in cost of funds for the banks and eventually makes loans expensive, which will reduce consumption. While inflation for August was 8.5 per cent according to the new series with 2004-05 as Base Year, food inflation was at a high of 15.10 per cent for the week ended September 4. To check inflation, the RBI had raised these key rates by an identical margin. The RBI move comes in the wake of Food inflation crossing 15 per cent for the week ended 4th of this month, while overall inflation stood at 8.5 per cent in August. RBI has said inflation rates have reached a plateau, but are likely to remain at unacceptably high levels for some months.