Ahmed, Sadiq2012-05-242012-05-242008-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6338The surge in global commodity prices of the past few years has presented a tremendous development challenge for South Asian countries. The large loss of income from the terms of trade shock has worsened macroeconomic balances, fueled rapid inflation, and hurt growth. Although commodity prices have come down recently, the benefits are being clouded by the emergence of a severe global financial crisis. The adverse consequences of the food price hike for the poor are large; the global financial crisis could further worsen the situation due to falling economic opportunities and government revenues. South Asian countries need to accelerate reforms to avoid facing a serious downturn in economic activity, investment, exports, and income. Governments in South Asia have responded by stabilizing domestic food prices through a number of short-term measures, tightened monetary policy to reduce inflation, and increased spending on a range of safety net programs for the poor. Some of the policies employed, such as export bans, are not consistent with the long-term welfare of the country or the region. Safety net interventions need to be made consistent with a longer-term poverty reduction strategy and fiscal sustainability. Most importantly, policy attention now needs to shift toward efforts to increase farm productivity, improve rural infrastructure, and lower the vulnerability of the poor.CC BY 3.0 IGOADVERSE CONSEQUENCESADVERSE EFFECTADVERSE EFFECTSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTUREAVERAGE PRICEAVERAGE PRICESAVERAGE PRODUCTIVITYBASIC NEEDSBINDING CONSTRAINTBUFFER STOCKSBUTTERCALORIE INTAKECAPITAL INFLOWSCASH CROPSCASH TRANSFER PROGRAMSCASH TRANSFERSCEREALSCHRONIC POVERTYCIVIL WARCLIMATE CHANGECOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCOMMODITY PRICECOMMODITY PRICESCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPREHENSIVE STRATEGYCONSUMERSCONSUMPTION BEHAVIORCOST INCREASECROP INSURANCECROP LOSSESCURRENCYCURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCEDEBTDEMAND MANAGEMENTDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC PRICEDOMESTIC PRICESDROUGHTECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EFFICIENCYECONOMIC SHOCKSEDIBLE OILSEGSELASTICITYEMERGING MARKETSEMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEMEEMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEMESEMPLOYMENT RATIONINGENERGY PRICESEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESFAIRFARM HOUSEHOLDSFARM PRODUCTIONFARM PRODUCTIVITYFARM TECHNOLOGYFARMERSFINANCIAL CRISISFISCAL DEFICITFISCAL DEFICITSFISCAL POLICYFLOUR MILLSFOOD AVAILABILITYFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CROPFOOD CROPSFOOD DISTRIBUTIONFOOD EXPORTSFOOD FOR WORKFOOD GRAINSFOOD ITEMSFOOD MARKETSFOOD POLICYFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICE INFLATIONFOOD PRICESFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD PRODUCTSFOOD RATIONSFOOD SECURITYFOOD SHORTAGESFOOD STOCKSFOOD-FOR-EDUCATIONGDPGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL MARKETGLOBAL PUBLIC GOODSGLOBAL STANDARDSGOVERNMENT BUDGETGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGRAIN PRODUCTIONGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHEDGE FUNDIFPRIINCOMEINCOME GROUPINCOME INEQUALITYINCOMESINEFFICIENCYINFLATION RATEINFLATION RATESINFLATIONARY PRESSUREINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINPUT PRICESIRRIGATIONLAND PRODUCTIVITYLANDHOLDINGSMACROECONOMIC POLICIESMAIZEMARKET EXPECTATIONSMARKET PRICEMARKET PRICESMONETARY POLICIESMONETARY POLICYNATIONAL POVERTYNATURAL DISASTERSOUTPUTOUTPUTSPADDYPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPETROLEUM PRICESPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOOR COUNTRIESPOOR HOUSEHOLDPOOR PEOPLEPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY HEADPOVERTY HEADCOUNT RATEPOVERTY IMPACTPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGYPRICE CAPPRICE CONTROLSPRICE EFFECTPRICE INCREASEPRICE INCREASESPRICE INDEXPRICE STABILIZATIONPRICE SUPPORTPRICE TRENDPRICE TRENDSPRICE VOLATILITYPRICING POLICIESPRICING POLICYPRODUCER PRICEPRODUCTION OF WHEATPRODUCTIVITYPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SAFETY NETPUBLIC SPENDINGPURCHASINGPURCHASING POWERRAPID ECONOMIC GROWTHRAPID GROWTHRATE OF GROWTHRENT SEEKINGRETAILRETAIL PRICERICERISK REDUCTIONRURALRURAL EMPLOYMENTRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL INFRASTRUCTURERURAL POORRURAL POOR HOUSEHOLDSRURAL ROADSSAFETY NETSAFETY NET MEASURESSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAFETY NET SYSTEMSSAFETY NETSSALESALESSCHOOL FEEDINGSCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMSSEAFOODSECURITY CONCERNSSELF TARGETINGSOCIAL IMPACTSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SAFETY NETSTABILIZATION POLICIESSTAPLE FOODSSTOCK MANAGEMENTSUPPLIERSSURPLUSTARGETINGTRADE BALANCETRADE BARRIERSTRADE OPPORTUNITIESTRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE REFORMSVALUE ADDEDWAGESWFPWHEATWHEAT FLOURWORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORSWORLD FOOD PROGRAMWORLD MARKETWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4796