One year after Russia-Ukraine conflicts, the surge in global food prices that the war triggered has subsided but there are still reasons for worry- prices remain elevated, and new shocks could send them soaring again, according to the World Bank (WB).
It said food prices shot up when Russian forces blockaded Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, halting shipments of cereals from one of the world’s biggest exporters. Many countries reacted by curbing or stopping food or fertilizer exports in an effort to protect domestic food supplies,” it added.
“Those measures were counterproductive and only drove prices higher, briefly threatening a food crisis in developing countries that depend on imports of food,” said the global development partner.
Now, many of those measures have lapsed and high prices are mainly a reflection of broader global inflation, said the WB, adding that in January, the average price of corn was 31 percent higher compared with January 2021, and the price of wheat was 14 percent higher. Rice prices were two percent lower, it said.
Nevertheless, it said the number of remaining restrictions is troubling. One year after the outbreak of war on February 24 last year, 101 export restrictions — including quotas, licenses, and outright bans – remain in place, suggesting that, contrary to WTO principles, the limits have not all been temporary.বিস্তারিত