Domestic Food Prices Remain High – World Bank

The World Bank has reported that domestic food price inflation remains high across the world.

This was made known in the latest Food Security Update report obtained from the World Bank website in Abuja.

The report showed information from the latest month between October 2022 and February 2023 for which food price inflation data were available

It reported inflation in 93 per cent of lower-middle-income countries, and 89.0 per cent of upper-middle-income countries and many experiencing double-digit inflation.

The report also said about 85.7per cent of high-income countries were experiencing high food price inflation.

It said according to a recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the benchmark index of international food commodity prices declined for the 11th consecutive month in February 2023.

“The FAO Food Price Index averaged 129.8 points in February, a marginal 0.6 per cent decrease from January 2023 and an 18.7 per cent decrease from its peak in March 2022.”

It would be recalled that the heads of FAO, IMF, World Bank Group, World Food Programme, and World Trade Organization released a Third Joint statement on Feb 8.

The statement was to draw attention to the need to prevent a worsening of the food and nutrition security crisis, while further urgent actions are required to rescue hunger hotspots.

A call was also made to facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector

Agro Nigeria / F.I