Recent spikes in staple food prices resulting from the invasion of Ukraine have once again highlighted the difficulty faced by low-income countries that rely on imports for a substantial portion of their
Asit Ranjan Mishra & Siddharth Zarabi / New Delhi July 30, 2008, 0:02 IST Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) has rejected a recommendation by a government-appointed agricultural price fixing body to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy to Rs 1,000 for the current Kharif season. Instead, the EAC has said the ad hoc price of Rs 850 for paddy declared by the Union Cabinet last month should be the final MSP for the 2008-09 season, sources told Business Standard.
RBI sees dark clouds over Indian economy Bs Reporter / Mumbai July 29, 2008, 0:24 IST The Reserve Bank of India today painted a gloomy picture for the economy. A survey conducted by the central bank said India's gross domestic product (GDP) would grow 7.9 per cent this year against the earlier projection of 8.1 per cent. Adding to the grim forecast was the RBI's assessment that the inflation rate would remain a concern, owing to high global oil and food prices.
The food ministry's meeting with the representatives of the North Bengal Rice Mill Owners' Association was adjourned at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday with the millers mounting pressure on the government to continue supply of rice at Tk 28 a kilogram from its stock. The mill owners also demanded incentives to offset the losses they were reportedly incurring from selling rice at the prices fixed by the government, said meeting sources.
Xan Rice In an emergency appeal on Thursday, Oxfam warns that millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya are fast being pushed "towards severe hunger and destitution'. Earlier this week the U.N. said it needed
The Asian Development Bank will lend Bangladesh $170 million to help cope with a rapid rise in food prices. The loan, part of a package with other multilateral aid donors, "will ensure access to food supply for those hardest hit by recent natural disasters in Bangladesh and the rapid increase in food prices," the ADB said in a statement yesterday. ADB funding will provide support to Bangladeshi government "safety net programmes" intended to ensure that some five million poor people get access to food.
The era of cheap food for Asia is over as surging demand, supply problems and the growing production of biofuels will keep food prices high, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned Tuesday. In its latest Asia Economic Monitor report, the Manila-based lender warned that while previous food price surges were "cyclical and temporary,' the higher prices now being seen were caused by permanent changes. "This time, the impetus appears to come from persistently rising demand ...
Dominique Strauss-Kahn NO ONE FEELS THE PAIN OF SOARING COMMODITY prices more keenly than the poor, who spend half or more of their income on food. With no relief from high food and fuel prices in sight, feeding the hungry today is clearly the first priority. Many low and middle-income countries are now at a tipping point. Their challenge is ours: it is to ensure adequate food supplies while preserving the gains in poverty reduction, achieved in recent years through faster growth, low inflation, and better economic management.
Krishi Bhawan's latest estimate of a record crop output in 2007-08 may seem to indicate a pick-up in Indian agriculture, but this has not been adequately reflected in the recent price trends of agricultural commodities. The prices of most commodities have remained firm and even increased. The latest estimate puts the foodgrain output at over 230 million tonnes, 13 million tonnes more than the previous year's production of 217 million tonnes.
Madan Sabnavis: Does core inflation really matter? Madan Sabnavis / New Delhi July 17, 2008, 0:13 IST Economists argue the RBI's actions would be different if it targeted 'core' inflation - but using this wouldn't really change things argues. A concept that has become pertinent today is core inflation. Central banks are supposedly looking at core inflation now because it is felt that what needs to be affected by monetary policy is not
Finally it boils down to whether rating firms took a life-cycle approach while rating India Inc or did they think easy money and high demand were here to stay. D R DOGRA, Deputy Managing Director, CARE "In a situation where demand is slowing while costs are rising, credit rating firms will need to introspect and look at the ratings that have been given a lot more closely"
