|
WASHINGTON: Rocketing oil and food prices are being
increasingly felt around the globe and surging commodity prices
could worsen poverty in many poor countries, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) warned.
A new IMF study, looking at the
impact of soaring oil and food costs, said many poor and developing
countries will likely have to change their economic policies in
response to soaring commodity prices.
“Some countries are at a
tipping point,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said
Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
“If food prices rise further
and oil prices stay the same, some governments will no longer be
able to feed their people and at the same time maintain stability in
their economies,” Strauss-Kahn said.
The IMF chief called for a
“broad cooperative approach” to help tackle higher oil and food
prices, and said the multilateral lender and guardian of global
financial stability stood ready to assist countries in need.
Strauss-Kahn said the
international community would also have to play a role in helping to
lessen the impact of commodity price shocks, which have triggered
protests in some countries.
European truckers have blockaded
major roads to protest fuel prices in recent weeks and food riots
have occurred in Cameroon, Bangladesh and Somalia among other
countries in recent months.
The IMF report, which echoes food
price concerns already expressed by the United Nations, showed that
poorer countries are having to pay out billions of dollars more for
imported oil and foodstuffs.
Its findings were released as
world oil prices continued to roil near record highs of around $142
a barrel. (See related story A2.)
Higher energy and food costs are
eating into the budgets of cash-strapped countries and could
significantly dent their economic growth, Strauss-Kahn said.
“Poor countries that are highly
dependent on food imports are particularly vulnerable to rising food
prices,” the report stated.
Poverty campaigners are concerned
that rising commodity costs could roll back advances made through
anti-poverty campaigns in recent years, particularly because poorer
families tend to spend much more of their household income on food.
The IMF report found that poor
households are most affected by food price inflation and “warned
that the share of undernourished [people] in developing countries
could rise rapidly above the current 40 percent of total
population.”
Energy and food values are still
rising and the IMF said its research suggests “the problem is
worsening.”
The Washington-based fund said it
is working closely with its member countries to help mitigate
inflationary pressures taking into account countries’ specific
needs.
The report said global food
markets “need to be kept open” and that “restrictive
policies,” such as export taxes and bans, should be removed.
--AFP
|
