T&T’S ECONOMIST PREDICTS FURTHER PRICE INCREASE IN FOOD ITEMS

By a staff reporter: 
Last month, in its latest monetary policy report, the T&T’s Central Bank noted that food inflation surged to 7.6 per cent (from 5.8 per cent in September) and is likely to rise further given the situation in global grain markets.
Speaking with ie News on Friday Economist Dr Vaalmikki Arjoon argued the pandemic has exposed inherent weaknesses in global food production and distribution, which continue to threaten global food security, by increasing the cost of feeding the world.
According to Dr Arjoon, such price increases largely occurred due to the surge in global spending and consumption, as economies reopened…
He cited that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation food price index that showed prices increased by 27.3 per cent between November 2020 and 2021. However, he said this hefty demand is outweighing the pace of production, promoting shortages and is expected to continue well into 2022, causing further price increases. Additionally, he said with wheat importers NFM and Nutrimix intending to increase flour prices, this will exacerbate the already high cost of living
Going forward, he recommended that local manufacturers, especially food processors, should consider using hedging strategies… but what does this mean?