Balancing food inflation and subsidy reforms

THE headlines that grabbed public attention recently were the actions taken by the Indian government to keep the domestic availability of food and vegetables in an effort to keep prices in check.

India started, with immediate effect, a 40% export duty on onions up to Dec 31, 2023, followed by the banning of all exports of “non-basmati white rice”. It is the world’s largest exporter of rice, accounting for 40% of the world’s rice shipments. Around half of its rice exports in 2022 were made up of non-basmati white rice.