The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
Unwilling to commit to a definite view on the fate of forward trading in essential commodities, food minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha that "there are a lot of conflicting views'. Mr Pawar's vacillation comes in the wake of indication that the Abhijit Sen Committee is likely to take …
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who belives that the food crisis had reached emergency proportions, is considering to convene a world summit to discuss how to respond to the crisis, his spokesperson said Thursday. "Yes, that is exactly what he is considering," spokesperson Michele Montas said when asked whether the UN …
AGRICULTURE, food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday frustrated attempts by the Congress Left-combine to put the blame for the current bout of inflation on opposition-ruled states. Quoting figures compiled by the food ministry, Mr Pawar told the Lok Sabha during his reply to the discussion on price-rise …
The EU's top trade official said on Thursday that rising world prices for food must be tackled with trade deals that encourage developing nations, particularly in Africa, to boost food output. E.U. Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the world's agricultural producers should shy away from export restrictions or bans that …
The Left parties on Thursday were dissatisfied with the government's proposed measures to control inflation, saying prices of foodgrains and edible oil were still on the higher side and the burden on the common man had not eased. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters that the …
The UPA government on Thursday tried to partly deflect criticism for rising food prices towards the Opposition as well as on factors outside its control. Failure of foodgrain procurement by NDA-governed states and international food crisis, it claimed in Rajya Sabha, were to blame for the prices even as Left …
Over 2,000 cadre removed when they tried to stage demonstrations UP IN ARMS: (left) The activists of the Communist Party of India being prevented from staging a dharna on Huzur Road in the city on Thursday deploring the Central Government for failure to control inflation and price rise. (right) Similar …
The government on Thursday rejected the Left parties' plea to restore the universal public distribution system (PDS) and was lukewarm to their second major demand for scrapping futures trading in agricultural commodities. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's reply in the Rajya Sabha to a short duration discussion on the "unprecedented price …
Lindsay Renwick, the mayor of this dusty southern Australian town, remembers the constant whir of the rice mill. "It was our little heartbeat out there, ticketytick-tickety," he said, imitating the giant fans that dried the rice, "and now it has stopped." The Deniliquin mill, the largest rice mill in the …
Giving UPA some relief, the wholesale price index-based inflation rate on Thursday inched down to 7.14% from last week's fouryear peak of 7.41% after the government last week took several fiscal steps to rein in rising food prices. Reeling under concerted attack from the Opposition in Parliament as well as …
Union agriculture, food and consumer affairs minister Sharad Pawar said on Thursday that the stock position of food grains in the country is comfortable and there is no chance for "food riots" in the country. He appealed to political parties not to spread false message of food scarcity on this …
The collapse of Australia's rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months - increases that have led the world's largest exporters to restrict exports severely, spurred panicked hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off protests in …
There was a general expectation that the inflation rate for the week ending April 5 would be a little lower than the previous week's shocker of 7.41 per cent. The wholesale price index (WPI) numbers released yesterday met these expectations, coming in at 7.14 per cent higher than a year …
Postponement of meeting of cabinet committee on prices on account of ministerial row is a pointer towards the laid-back approach of the government towards a critical problem which is potentially calamitous. As the food prices explode across the country setting off a chain of violent mass protests, the ruling clique …
The Chandigarh unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) held a mass procession to protest against the rising prices of essential commodities. CPI members and union workers participated in the procession that started from the Nehru Park in Sector 22. The procession culminated at the office of the deputy …
A recent spike in wholesale and market prices for rice, wheat and maize has touched off food riots and prompted countries with surpluses to impose restrictions on grain exports. In response, U.S. President George W. Bush ordered up $200 million in emergency food aid. Behind the scenes, however, researchers charge …
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended Brazil's production of biofuels on Wednesday, rejecting criticism that they are furthering a surge in global food prices and harming the environment. "Don't tell me, for the love of God, that food is expensive because of biodiesel. Food is expensive because the world …
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blown the election war bugle on the issue of rising prices with Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani saying that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government should control the prices or quit. Mr. Advani was addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting where rising prices …
The Left told the UPA government on Wednesday that its future depended on how it tackled the alarming price rise and demands raised by it, and the Bharatiya Janata Party dared the Left parties to dislodge the government on the price rise issue. Initiating a discussion on price rise in …
North Korea is about three months away from a crisis in humanitarian terms, as a poor harvest and declining aid from neighbouring countries threaten to create dramatic food shortages, the World Food Programme warned yesterday. Tony Banbury, the WFP's regional director for Asia, told the Financial Times that, while such …
