Asia faces food inflation as price of rice soars

Supply pressure: A worker packing rice for sale in Bangkok. Countries worldwide are trying to secure rice after a partial ban on exports by India cut supplies by roughly a fifth. — AP

SINGAPORE: Rising global prices of rice and its substitutes could drive food inflation higher as early as the end of 2023 in Singapore and most of Asia, which consumes 90% of the world’s rice, economists warn.

At US$648 (RM3,012) a tonne, Thai white 5% broken rice, an Asian benchmark, is at its most expensive since October 2008, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.