Food prices going up

• noahnoah

  11 Jan 10, 12:08

  Originally Posted by The Straits Times

  
  Food prices going up
  Policymakers under pressure as signs of inflation emerge
  Fiona Chan
  Monday, 11 January 2010, 6.00 am
  
  
  
  Economic growth has yet to make it back to a firm footing, but policymakers in Asia are already being confronted with another emerging challenge: ïnflätïön.
  
  Oil prices have been rallying in line with the global recovery, hitting levels above US$83 a barrel earlier this week, near a 15-month high.
  
  Food prices are also rebounding from their 2009 lows, potentially increasing price pressures in Asian countries that are already seeing asset bubbles build up.
  
  This has led economists such as Action Economics' David Cohen to predict that central banks in the region will have to start tightening monetary policy by the middle of this year.
  
  This could include raising interest rates or appreciating their currencies.
  
  Inflation recently peaked here at about 7.5% in mid-2008. Runaway inflation, if it takes hold, can cripple an economy as too much cash, worth less and less, chases too few goods and services.