The Asia Pacific Food Price and Policy Monitor is a monthly report produced by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. It monitors food prices in local markets and provides readers with up-to-date food and agricultural policy developments across the Asia-Pacific region.
Regional food and general inflation have been consistently around 6.0 percent during the past 12 months. In July, regional food inflation registered an annual increase of 6.3 percent, just 0.2 percent higher than the general inflation rate of 6.1 percent.
Southeast Asia’s rice price index continued its downward trend, recording a drop of 2.6 percent while South Asia’s rice price index increased by 15.5 percent year-on-year. The wheat price index for South Asia continued its upward trend, rising by 17.7 percent year-on-year, led by strong wheat prices in Pakistan.
Retail and wholesale prices for coarse rice in Bangladesh (Dhaka) have increased for two consecutive months since May, rising by 6.5 percent and 16.9 percent respectively.
Retail prices for wheat and wheat flour continued moving higher in Pakistan this month, rising 25.7 percent and 26 percent from the same period last year.
Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce announced it will offer about 500 000 tonnes of public stocks of paddy rice each month for open bidding by millers and exporters. In addition, the government is negotiating further government-togovernment export contracts.
In an attempt to stabilize domestic beef prices, the Indonesian government issued a decree to allow imports of beef cattle by authorized business operators other than registered importers, and tasked the state logistics agency (Bulog) to supply 20 tonnes of beef per day to the market during the Ramadan period.
