Following Russia’s withdrawal from the grain agreement, “Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, and other lower-income Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Pakistan worry about what comes next,” writes the Associated Press.
“Despite the volatility, the costs are below what they were before Russia invaded Ukraine, and there is enough production to meet worldwide demand, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
“But for low-income countries like war-torn Yemen or Lebanon that are big wheat importers, finding suppliers that are farther away will add costs, he said. Plus, their currencies have weakened against the U.S. dollar, which is used to buy grain on world markets.
Weakened currencies is “one reason why you see food price inflation lingering in a lot of countries — because even though world prices I mentioned are at prewar levels, that’s in dollars. And if you put it in, say, the Egyptian pound, you’ll see that Egypt wheat prices are actually up,” said Glauber.
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Republished in multiple national and international outlets including Washington Post, ABC News, Al-Arabi (Egypt), MSN, The Messenger (USA), The Economic Times (India), TSF (Portugal), The Actualites (France).