Rice Could Keep Asia’s Food Inflation Risks From Getting Worse
- Cheaper rice means food cost increases more muted in Asia: ADB
- India set to feel strain from soaring fertilizer, food prices
A worker carries a sack of rice in Manila. Rice is more popular with many Asian consumers than wheat.
Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered a global-scale disruption that is set to cascade through food supply chains and worsen hunger, but Asia’s love for rice could limit the fallout.
Rice is more popular with many Asian consumers than wheat, which has seen supplies cut off from one of the world’s breadbaskets, said Jules Hugot, an economist at the Asian Development Bank. Rice prices have been relatively stable, and it’s easy to swap one staple for the other, he said.