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- The effects of food price increases and currency depreciations on food import bills
GENEVA, Switzerland – This new UNCTAD note assesses the potential effect of high prices of wheat and concurrent currency devaluations on the import bills of selected developing countries.
The price of food has increased everywhere, reaching historic levels in 2022. This is a challenge for food security globally, but particularly for net food-importing developing countries.
And unlike in previous food crises, they now face a double burden. They not only pay higher prices for the food they import, but the price increase is exacerbated by the depreciation of their currency vis-à-vis the US dollar.
This erodes the fiscal space that many developing countries need to face the concomitant challenges of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and the climate emergency.