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Asia's poor suffer as food prices drive inflation
17.02.2011 11:24 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Surging food prices in India are forcing families to cut back on meat and vegetables. In Indonesia, they prompted the president to urge people to grow their own chili peppers. And in China, restaurant owners are feeling the squeeze. Inflation is climbing across Asia as the cost of food jumps, echoing the previous global food crisis that peaked in 2008. While people in the U.S. and other wealthy Western nations will barely feel the effects of higher prices, getting enough to eat is a big challenge for tens of millions in Asia. Poor families typically spend more than half their household income on food and are bearing the brunt. Wary of potential unrest, governments are trying to keep food price inflation from spilling into the rest of the economy. Officials face a tough dilemma as they raise interest rates to dampen inflation. Too fast and it will choke off economic growth, too slow and the problem could spiral out of control.
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