WTO chief warns of rising food prices over Ukraine conflict

The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, warned of the economic impacts of the war in Ukraine, a major exporter of wheat, which will hurt consumers around the world.

“There is going to be a big shock regarding wheat prices and bread prices also for ordinary people”, he said at a virtual event with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.

Ngozi recalled that Ukraine “It is one of the largest wheat exporters in the world..

Georgieva recalled her previous warnings about the “significant economic risk” of the conflict amid the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and said that “the impact will go beyond Ukraine”.

He highlighted additional pressure on inflation, which is likely to accelerate amid rising energy and wheat prices.

The United States and Europe imposed sanctions on Russia that affect the financial sector, but largely spared the oil and agriculture sectors, fearing that they will end up affecting them too.

The sanctions “they add to the economic impact of this crisis and will mainly affect energy and grain prices, adding to the growing concern about inflation and how it can be countered.Georgieva said.

Likewise, the Ukraine conflict adds “a lot of uncertainty” to the global economy that is reflected in the financial markets and undermines confidence in emerging countries causing an exodus of capital at a time when they need more financing.

Georgieva, who is Bulgarian, said she had a personal connection to the crisis, as her brother is married to a Ukrainian and they live in a town near the Russian border.

“I know that right now it is very difficult to see a way out towards peace, but we must find a way to bring that peace that people desperately want.”.