Publication: Market-Based Approaches to Managing Commodity Price Risk
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2012-04-10
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2017-06-13
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Though well-established in the commercial sector, the use of market-based price risk management is not widespread in the public sector, particularly by sovereigns. Recent volatility in energy and food prices, however, has awakened the interest of some governments to learn more about how they can either use these tools, or foster supportive environment where these tools can be used by local supply chain actors. Equally important is ensuring that non-price related risks are isolated, monitored, and managed independent of direct price exposure. This note reviews lessons learned from recent efforts to advance risk management strategies in countries vulnerable to food and energy price shocks. It focuses specifically on the use of market-based risk management approaches and use by sovereigns. For governments concerned about the risk of food price shocks, the fiscal impact is equally complicated as governments may be concerned about the impact of rising food prices on consumers, the need to finance, and potentially supply, subsidies or social safety nets for vulnerable populations or, in extreme cases, humanitarian operations. In both cases, the costs of budget uncertainty and the need to finance responses in the event of a shock can be significant. Finally, though not typically used to manage specific intra-annual or intra-seasonal price exposures, commodity-linked loans or bonds can also be used to manage exposure to price shocks on a more macro level.
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“World Bank. 2012. Market-Based Approaches to Managing Commodity Price Risk. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27114 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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