Domestic food price inflation continued to rise, with consumers in Venezuela, Lebanon, Argentina, Turkey, and Egypt particularly affected, according to a World Bank report that warned of a commodity price shock due to conflict in the Middle East.
The latest available monthly data showed rates of food price increase above 5 percent as follows:
•57.1 percent of low-income economies (vs. 63.2 percent in the previous reading)
• 83 percent of lower-middle-income economies (vs. 79.5 percent previously)
• 59 percent of upper-middle-income economies (vs. 67 percent previously)
• 64.3 percent of high-income economies (vs. 78.9 percent previously)
In real terms, food price increases exceeded overall inflation in 77 percent of the 170 countries for which data are available, according to the World Bank in its latest Food Security Update.
Source (Asharq Bloomberg Website, Edited)
