The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday criticised rice export bans, saying governments should instead resort to fiscal measures to help the poor, as prices of the staple continued to climb. While Indonesia promised more support to its farmers to encourage them to sell their produce to the government, signs China may extend rice exports this year came as a relief for the market scrambling for cargoes after bans by India and Vietnam. World rice prices have surged, not only because stocks have hit their lowest level in decades, but also because of growing disposable incomes, high fuel prices driving production costs, erratic weather and stagnant yields, said Rajat Nag, the ADB's managing director general. "The era of cheap food is over," Nag told reporters at Singapore's Foreign Correspondents Association. "We want to temper what we think is a bit of an over-reaction. There is still enough supply." "Banning of exports is no different from hoarding at a national level," Nag said. The price of rice from Thailand, the world's number one exporter, has more than doubled this year. The benchmark Thai 100 % B grade white rice was quoted at a historic high at $950 a tonne this week, up from $383 earlier this year. "We believe the situation in Asia is one marked by very high food prices and not supply shortages," Nag added. He also said that direct help to the poor was preferable to raising interest rates to tackle the problem of rising prices. "It is an entitlement issue, the ability to buy. You have got to get support to the poor immediately. We'd rather that be done through direct fiscal stimulus than monetary policy," he said. The comments from the ADB echoed recent statements by the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, urging countries to ensure more funds in the hands of the poor to buy food, instead of resorting to protectionist trade barriers. Nag said food prices could ease from current levels because of cyclical factors but would settle at a relatively higher level, compared with levels seen in previous years. China, which produces nearly a third of the world's rice, is poised to extend exports this year despite a nominal government ban on grains shipments abroad, said Yang Hong, head of the rice department at state grains trader COFCO Co. Ltd, told Reuters. Reuters "We will continue to export a proper amount this year, but it is hard to say how much now," she said. "We don't see any problem in domestic supplies." China is ranked fifth in the world with over 4 % of global exports last year. The country's rice exports rose 7% to 1.32 million tonnes last year and have continued to boom, climbing 39% in the first quarter of this year. Indonesia raised average rice farm-gate prices -- the price paid to farmers by state procurement agency Bulog - by around 10% on Tuesday in a bid to secure domestic stocks. "By increasing the rice prices, it will allow Bulog to secure its rice stocks," said Bayu Krisnamurthi, deputy of the chief economic minister, adding that this would discourage smuggling of the grain overseas. Traders said paddy prices in Vietnam had risen 11% in the past week at the end of a major harvest and after a 50% jump in prices at a Philippine tender. "Prices rise as Vietnam still has a number of deals to fulfil such as loading for the Philippines, Cuba and Iraq," said a trader in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest grain market. The most active July rough rice futures contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose to $23.99 per hundredweight, up 0.29, as it edged up towards last week's peak of $24.67.