Global food prices continue to decrease, but subsidies a concern, World Bank says
Global food prices declined for three consecutive quarters, then rose in May and June, remaining close to historical peaks, the World Bank said.
Some countries with high poverty and weak safety nets are now responding to this chronic volatility by scaling up consumer food subsidies but these are often counter-productive, the World Bank Group’s quarterly Food Price Watch said on July 25.
“Poorly designed food subsidy programs that lack transparency and accountability in implementation do not benefit poor people. These programs can be very costly and prone to corruption, and waste scarce fiscal resources,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Group’s Acting Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “Reforming such programs is a policy priority, leading the way to smart subsidies that target the most needed and complement existing safety nets.” Saavedra said.
According to the latest edition of the Food Price Watch, global food prices continued to fall between February and June 2013 – a trend observed since the recent all-time peak in August 2012 – but prices were only 12 per cent below last year’s August peak. Higher production, declining imports and lower demand generally pushed export prices down although international markets continue to be tight for maize (corn).
Current prices of wheat reflect expectations that world production will rebound this year from last year’s declines. Rice prices continued to decrease moderately from a combination of offsetting factors. Downward price pressures from good harvests in Thailand and Vietnam counteracted upward pressures from increasing demand and thinner supplies in India, Pakistan, the United States, and South America.
Looking ahead, uncertainty in the international market remains. Recently unfavorable weather conditions in northern and central Europe, the Russian Federation and China may affect the prospects of a rebound in the world wheat production. The current situation in Egypt may also impact international markets of wheat, given Egypt is the world’s top wheat importer.
Domestic prices meanwhile generally followed seasonal trends but wide variations continued: where prices rose between February and June 2013 it was mainly due to a combination of factors including bad weather, dwindling supplies, currency devaluations and public procurement policies.
(Photo: amalrik)
