Donors Urged To Support Countries Affected By Surging Food Prices
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged donors on Sunday to take immediate action to help countries seriously affected by the surging food prices.
“We urge donors to provide the needed assistance to the World Food Program to enable immediate support for countries most affected by the high food prices”, said a communique released after the meeting of the Development Committee of the Bank and the IMF.
Leaders agreed to support a World Bank “New Deal” for food and called on donors to provide 500 million US dollar in funding for short-term relief.
World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, welcomed calls from Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, and Susilo Yudhoyono, the President of Indonesia, to make the “global food crisis” the top priority of the next G8 meeting in Tokyo.
The worlds economic ministers declared on Sunday that shortages and skyrocketing prices for food posed a potentially greater threat to economic and political stability than the turmoil in capital markets. The ministers turned their attention to the food crisis and called on the wealthiest countries to fulfill pledges to help prevent starvation and disorder in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
– Throughout the weekend we have heard again and again from ministers in developing countries and emerging economies that this is a priority issue, said Zoellick, adding: – We have to put our money where our mouth is now, so that we can put food into hungry mouths. It is as stark as that.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF, warned of “terrible” consequences if food prices continued to rise. – All the good work that had been done in recent years in Africa can be destroyed very rapidly by the crisis coming from rising food prices, Strauss-Kahn said.
The Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Supachai Panitchpakdi said: – Countries need to strike bilateral agreements to secure food supplies as prices soar, rather than wait for a new global trade deal.
Supachai is still optimistic about the stalled Doha round of global trade talks, which he helped to launch. – You see governments going country to country negotiating’ trade deals involving key commodities like rice, wheat and milk. That is something that is necessary, he stated.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
