VOA新闻杂志2022--多国限制食品出口有可能加剧通货膨胀

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Food Export Bans Risk Fueling Inflation in Many Countries

In April, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was ready to increase exports of wheat to "feed the world."

The South Asian nation was looking back on five straight record wheat harvests.

However, high heat that decreased wheat production and the highest inflation in eight years led to a change in policy for the nation of 1.4 billion people.

One government official, who asked to not be identified, said Modi's office ordered a stop to wheat exports because of high inflation. Inflation was in part what caused the toppling of the Congress Party government in 2014.

India is one of at least 19 countries that have introduced food export restrictions¹ since the war in Ukraine began.

Violent protests have started in some developing nations as international trade in several agricultural products decreases.

Countries including India, Indonesia, Argentina and Serbia have imposed restrictions. Economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather, and supply chain problems have threatened many places with hunger.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in April that the number of people facing severe food insecurity had doubled since 2019. The WFP estimates that 276 million people in the 81 countries in which it operates are at risk.

Now, as exports from two major agricultural producers are affected², the WFP predicts that number will increase by at least 33 million.

World Trade Organization members can ban or restrict exports on food or other products if the move is temporary and is needed to relieve "critical shortages."

India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters last month that he had been in contact with the WTO and the International Monetary³ Fund (IMF). He said India needed to explain that it has to deal with food security, prices, and hoarding⁵.

Michele Ruta is an economist⁶ with the World Bank Group. He said export restrictions risk worsening the rise in world food prices. He said restrictions produce a domino effect as a deepening crisis causes other countries to take similar steps.

Many economists⁷ said the world food crisis is already more severe than the last one in 2008.

Simon Evenett is a professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He said, "This time around that is harder to do as we do have a supply hit here in both Ukraine and Russia." He said the size of summer harvests in major food producers would help predict how the situation develops in the second half of 2022.

Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that Ukraine and Russia provided 28 percent of world wheat exports, 15 percent of corn exports, and 75 percent of sunflower oil exports in the 2020 to 2021 season.

Words in This Story

topple – v. to remove (a government or a leader) from power

supply chain – n. the systems and organization involved from manufacturing a product to providing it to a buyer

relieve – v. to reduce or remove (something, such as pain or an unpleasant feeling)

hoard⁴ – v. to collect and hide a large amount of (something valuable)

domino effect – n. a situation in which something, usually bad, happens and causes other similar events to happen

sunflower – n. a tall plant that has very large yellow flowers and that produces seeds which can be eaten

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

5 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》