'Troubling' signs of food price rises in Myanmar: UN agency
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A woman cooking at a food stall in Yangon last month. The World Food Programme said food and fuel prices have been rising in Myanmar since the Feb 1 military coup, raising concern about the ability of the poor to feed themselves.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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YANGON • The United Nations food agency said yesterday rising food and fuel prices in Myanmar since the Feb 1 military coup risk undermining the ability of poor families to feed themselves.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted the elected government and detained its leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, with protests and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes paralysing parts of the economy.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said food prices have been rising, with palm oil 20 per cent higher in some places around the main city of Yangon since the beginning of last month and rice prices up 4 per cent in the Yangon and Mandalay areas since the end of that month.
In some parts of Kachin state in the north, the price of rice was up as much as 35 per cent, while prices of cooking oil and pulses were sharply higher in parts of Rakhine state in the west, the WFP said in a statement.
The cost of fuel has risen by 15 per cent nationwide since Feb 1, raising concern about further food price increases, it said.
"These rising food and fuel prices are compounded by the near paralysis of the banking sector, slowdowns in remittances, and widespread limits on cash availability," the WFP said.
The agency's country director, Mr Stephen Anderson, said the signs were troubling: "Coming on top of the pandemic, if these price trends continue they will severely undermine the ability of the poorest and most vulnerable to put enough food on the family table."
A spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment.
State media has this week reported farmers expecting good prices for their crops of onions and chickpeas.
The WFP is helping to support more than 360,000 people in Myanmar, most of them displaced by conflict over the past decade.
Mr Anderson said that the agency "reiterates the call" from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the will of the Myanmar people expressed in November elections to be respected.
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35%
How much the price of rice has risen in some parts of Kachin state in the north, according to the World Food Programme. Prices are up 4 per cent in the Yangon and Mandalay areas since the end of last month.
20%
How much the price of palm oil has risen in some places around Yangon since the beginning of last month.
He added: "At WFP, we know all too well how hunger can quickly follow when peace and dialogue are sidelined."
REUTERS
