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STORY: WORLD BANK / FOOD PRICES
TRT: 2.32
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 JULY 2013, WASHINGTON DC / FILE
FILE – 2013, WASHINGTON DC
1. Wide shot, World Bank building
2. Close up, World Bank sign
25 JULY 2013, WASHINGTON DC
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, World Bank Group:
"One of the main highlights of the Food Price Watch is that the prices of internationally traded food have declined for the third consecutive quarter. And they were, in June, 7 percent below the all-time peak of August 2012. The reasons why prices have declined, is because of increased outputs, reduced inputs, as well as increased stocks. Still prices are high, and we see a lot of variation across countries and regions, mainly because of weather conditions - is one of the other factors. As well as domestic policies like in the case of Thailand, where public procurement programs increase the prices paid to farmers."
FILE – 2011, GRANADA, EL SALVADOR
4. Med shot, woman pouring rice into container
5. Close up, woman pouring rice into container
25 JULY 2013, WASHINGTON DC
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, World Bank Group:
"The report finds that we need to pay a lot of scrutiny to domestic policies including food consumer subsidies, which the announcements of some countries recently show that they are not a thing of the past. They are very popular across countries with high poverty and high prices. Despite the evidence we have that when they are not properly targeted, they are not doing a good job benefiting the poor. They may encourage corruption. They have a fiscal cost, and they don't have proven nutritional effects."
FILE – 2012, BRAZIL
6. Medium shot, woman putting fruit in bag
7. Tilt up of woman purchasing fruit
25 JULY 2013, WASHINGTON DC
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, World Bank Group:
"One of the main findings of this report is that on this quarter the international food prices have fallen for the third consecutive quarter and in the month of June they are 1.12 percent below the historical peak observed in August 2012. The reasons why these prices are going down is mainly due to the increase in production, a reduction in imports and an increase in the stock of food. However, prices remain high, we see that there is much variation between countries and regions, which are due to seasonal factors and domestic policies as in the case of Thailand, were the government increased the price that is paid to farmers for their crops".
FILE - GUATEMALA, 2011
7. Med shot, people in line at cafeteria
The World Bank says food prices are dropping from all-time highs.
International food prices have declined for the third consecutive quarter and are now 12 percent below the historical peak in August 2012, according to the World Bank’s Food Price Watch report. But the report says the continued popularity of food subsidies often do not deliver the results policy makers are seeking.
Global food prices declined for three consecutive quarters, then rose in May and June, remaining close to historical peaks. Some countries with high poverty and weak safety nets are now responding to this chronic volatility by scaling up consumer food subsidies but these are often counter-productive, the World Bank Group’s quarterly Food Price Watch reported today.
“Poorly designed food subsidy programs that lack transparency and accountability in implementation do not benefit poor people. These programs can be very costly and prone to corruption, and waste scarce fiscal resources,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Group’s Acting Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “Reforming such programs is a policy priority, leading the way to smart subsidies that target the most needed and complement existing safety nets.” Saavedra added.
According to the latest edition of the Food Price Watch, global food prices continued to fall between February and June 2013 - a trend observed since the recent all-time peak in August 2012 - but prices were only 12 percent below the August peak. Higher production, declining imports and lower demand generally pushed export prices down although international markets continue to be tight for maize (corn).
Current prices of wheat reflect expectations that world production will rebound this year from last year’s declines. Rice prices continued to decrease moderately from a combination of offsetting factors.
Downward price pressures from good harvests in Thailand and Vietnam counteracted upward pressures from increasing demand and thinner supplies in India, Pakistan, the United States, and South America.
Looking ahead, uncertainty in the international market remains. Recently unfavorable weather conditions in northern and central Europe, the Russian Federation and China may affect the prospects of a rebound in the world wheat production. The current situation in Egypt may also impact international markets of wheat; given Egypt is the world’s top wheat importer.
Domestic prices meanwhile generally followed seasonal trends but wide variations continued: where prices rose between February and June 2013 it was mainly due to a combination of factors including bad weather, dwindling supplies, currency devaluations and public procurement policies.
