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Tag: Food prices

  • ‘When Whole World Was Facing Food inflation, India Was…’: Piyush Goyal On Measures To Contain Food Prices | Economy News

    New Delhi: The Centre will pull all stops to ensure prices of essential food items from onion to tomatoes to pulses do not spike particularly during the elections, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said as he cited the Modi government’s track record of controlling rates within days of any temporary hike.

    In an interview with PTI, Goyal, who is heading the food and consumer affairs ministry, asserted that the Modi government would continue to take measures to ensure that there is no stress on the household budget of “our Nari-Shakti”. (Also Read: Veg Food Thali Turns Costlier In February, Non-Veg Cheaper: Check What Are Reasons Behind It)

    Replying to a query regarding the government’s strategy to ensure that there are no spikes in the prices of food items when the general election kicks in, the minister said, “We are going to be on top of it. And I can assure the people of India that this government cares for the women of India.” (Also Read: Bank Employees To Receive 17% Annual Wage Hike; IBA, Unions Sign Joint Note)

    He highlighted that the government has spent in the last few years about Rs 28,000 crore in the price stabilisation fund to support the effort to fight against food inflation.

    “We will continue to be there with our sisters and mothers and make sure that we do not give stress…We are pro-actively on the job to make sure that we respect our Nari-Shakti and respect that they need to get a better household budget,” Goyal asserted.

    The Election Commission is expected to announce the poll schedule soon and the Lok Sabha elections are likely to be held in April-May.

    The minister spoke at length about the government’s various measures in the last few years to check prices of food items like onion, tomato, and pulses.

    “When the whole world was facing severe inflation, particularly food inflation, and never seen before levels, some countries of the developed world were showing 40-year high inflation, India was a bright spot in the subject of inflation,” he said.

    During the UPA-era, Goyal said, the inflation was at high levels and food prices were going haywire. “If you look at the India story, even during the worst times, we were able to maintain our inflation at pretty much reasonable levels.”

    “We did not allow any product to see spikes beyond a point. If we saw any product going expensive, very often for reasons beyond our control, we acted immediately,” he said.

    Citing examples of price rise in tomatoes because of rains in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka and at about the same time, Goyal said the government immediately intervened and started procuring tomatoes from other regions to boost supplies across the country.

    “We didn’t allow the price to remain at those elevated levels beyond a few days. And as soon as the government intervention came in, prices came back to normal levels,” he said.

    The food and consumer minister added that similar efforts were taken when the prices of onion and pulses rose beyond reasonable levels.”

    Even at nominal increases, the government now takes proactive measures,” he said. To provide relief to the common man, Goyal highlighted that the Centre has introduced Bharat Chana daal at Rs 60 per kg; Bharat Atta (wheat flour) at Rs 27.50 per kg, and Bharat rice at Rs 29 per kg for sale in the open market.

    These steps, he said, have brought “salutary effects” on prices. “Inflation of food has been kept under control and our overall inflation is also very much within the RBI mandate,” he said.

    Referring to the government’s latest estimate about lower onion output in 2023-24, he said, “I can assure you that the government will be proactive in its effort”.

    The government has 18,000 outlets of NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar, and retail stores of state governments for the sale of subsidised items like pulses, aata, and rice. That apart, he said, the government has also roped in e-commerce platforms for sale of these goods.

  • Traders money in on meals commodities because the deficient pass hungry

    Emerging shopper costs are annoying meals shortages world wide, and buyers taking a look to make a greenback off meals commodities may well be making issues worse.

    Meals costs have risen sharply after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted world provide chains, inflicting shortages all over the world. The cost of meals spiked even upper following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Each international locations are primary world providers of agricultural commodities, like wheat and sunflower oil.

    “In Uganda, wheat and gas costs have skyrocketed, making on a regular basis items like bread virtually unaffordable to an atypical citizen,” Anna Slattery, exterior affairs supervisor at The Starvation Challenge, a nonprofit that works to finish international starvation, instructed DW.

    “In Malawi, our groups are reporting that the costs of maize grain, soybeans and cooking oil have higher considerably, over 50% in some puts. The rise in costs is making it tricky for other people to get admission to those necessary meals pieces.”

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    An urge for food for commodities

    Traders looking to make cash off the excessive call for for meals and different commodities may well be striking much more drive on costs.

    After the struggle broke out in February, commodity-linked “exchange-traded finances (ETFs),” a kind of funding fund open to the general public, noticed an enormous uptick in task: By means of April, buyers had pumped $1.2 billion (€1.12 billion) into two primary agricultural ETFs, in comparison to simply $197 million for the entire of 2021, Lighthouse Reviews, an investigative journalism NGO, discovered.

    In line with the scoop web page The Twine, the Paris milling wheat marketplace, the benchmark for Europe, has additionally noticed a vital building up within the percentage of speculators — this is, buyers whose number one purpose is to show a benefit — purchasing up its wheat futures contracts. That’s instead of business investors or hedgers, i.e. marketplace gamers who be interested in purchasing the commodity itself, for instance to protected a wheat provide for a bread manufacturing unit.

    Job on the Chicago Board of Business, one of the crucial international’s main futures exchanges, additionally displays this pattern. A contemporary find out about by means of the Middle for Construction Analysis (ZEF) on the College of Bonn discovered that the proportion of speculators in arduous wheat and maize had risen with the cost of the commodities, and that it had long past up sharply because the finish of 2020. The researchers additionally discovered that the volatility of futures costs had higher considerably because the finish of 2021, an indication of marketplace irregularities that can result in over the top hypothesis.

    A positive guess

    The ZEF document warned that extra hypothesis may see costs decoupling from basics, like provide and insist for instance. It pointed to identical developments main as much as the worldwide meals disaster that emerged in 2008.
    In April, analysts at funding financial institution JPMorgan Chase prompt that commodities costs may surge up to 40% as investors pile in, growing a good looking go back for buyers.

    Buyers generally tend to transport clear of riskier investments, like tech shares and cryptocurrencies, in occasions of financial uncertainty, favoring more secure bets, like meals and different arduous commodities, like oil and fertilizer. Meals commodities, like wheat, corn and rice, will also be adversely suffering from marketplace uncertainty.

    “The extra uncertainty out there, the extra call for for possibility buying and selling exists,” Lukas Kornher, economist and ZEF venture supervisor, instructed DW. “Because of this we see the inflow of speculative investors out there.”

    Over the top buying and selling

    “[Speculative traders] mainly attempt to leap on a bandwagon of accelerating costs,” stated Kornherr. “After which they begin buying and selling with every different as an alternative of assembly the hedging call for of industrial manufacturers or investors.”
    The cost of the commodity can then turn into disconnected from its bodily provide and insist.

    Over the top speculative task in commodities markets is “a double-edged sword,” Dirke Shower, press officer at International Imaginative and prescient Germany, a humanitarian assist team, stated.

    “At the one hand, hypothesis on scarce commodities can result in significantly emerging costs,” he instructed DW. “However, this marketplace purposes like an early caution machine,” giving companies and policymakers time to react.

    Hundreds of thousands extra driven into poverty

    The present value inflation and record-high costs on the commodities futures markets sign an anticipated shortage inside a few months, in line with Kornher, who stated the sector used to be most likely “on its method” to a meals disaster.

    The Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO)’s meals value index used to be up 36% in April in comparison with the similar month a yr sooner than, after hitting an all-time excessive in March. The International Financial institution’s Agricultural Value Index additionally hit an all-time nominal excessive within the first quarter of the yr, up 25% over a yr in the past. In line with a International Financial institution research, for each one proportion level building up in meals costs, 10 million extra individuals are driven into excessive poverty.

    Professionals have known as for measures to offer protection to meals programs towards hypothesis. Banks and funding finances may abstain from meals hypothesis as a part of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) coverage, for instance. They’ve additionally warned towards international locations responding to excessive meals costs by means of turning to protectionist insurance policies.

    “We want to make certain that international locations don’t take export restrictions, don’t take export bans that can simplest exacerbate the meals lack of confidence we’re seeing as of late,” Arancha Gonzalez, the previous international minister of Spain, instructed DW. “That is what we discovered in 2008.”

  • Meals costs push retail inflation to 17-month prime

    Through Specific Information Provider

    NEW DELHI: Retail inflation soared to a 17-month prime of 6.95% in March with the costs of maximum commodities hovering, information printed via the Nationwide Statistical Administrative center confirmed on Tuesday. It’s the 3rd directly month when the inflation remained above the Reserve Financial institution of India’s convenience zone of 6%. Retail inflation, measured via Shopper Worth Index (CPI), used to be 6.07% in February and six.01% in January. The CPI inflation used to be 5.52% in March 2021. 

    The surge in March retail inflation used to be pushed basically via pricey meals pieces, which registered a 7.7% enlargement in comparison to 5.9% in February. Greens costs rose 11.6%, safe to eat oils 18.8%, meat and fish via 9.6% and cereals via 4.9% throughout the month beneath overview.

    Inflation within the ‘gas and lightweight’ class, alternatively, grew at a slower tempo of seven.5% in March (in comparison to 8.7% in February) as many of the worth hikes in petrol, diesel and LPG took place within the later a part of the month.

    In keeping with the newest information, the costs of maximum commodity teams touched multi-month highs — cereals and merchandise (19 months), milk and merchandise (16 months), vegetable (16 months), clothes (100 months), sneakers (111 months), family items and products and services (102 months), private care (13 months) and meals index (16 months).

    Core inflation, or non-food non-fuel inflation, used to be at 6.4% in March in comparison to 5.8% in February. Core inflation is prone to see a broad-based upward thrust as manufacturers cross on price pressures throughout segments, says ranking company Crisil. The deficient are bearing the weight of inflation probably the most, for the reason that meals recorded the sharpest upward thrust, Crisil provides.

    In the meantime, rural inflation confirmed a better leap of seven.7% than city inflation (6.12%). RBI in its contemporary financial coverage had mentioned that its number one focal point can be to include inflation. The central financial institution additionally revised the 2022-23 inflation estimates to five.7% from its previous forecast of four.5%.