Скачать или смотреть IMF chief sounds warning on food prices

(13 Apr 2008) SHOTLIST

1. Finance ministers walk into news conference (++MUTE++)
2. Cutaway of media
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director:
"Some of the ministers were very eloquent on the need to be concerned more than we were before, not only on the question of inflation as an economic problem, but, I say it as a matter of conclusion of this meeting, of the question of inflation, because it may be the root of a lot of conflict in the future. If food prices go on as they are today, then the consequences on the population in a large set of countries, including Africa, but not only Africa, will be terrific."
4. Cutaway of media
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director:
"Hundreds of thousands of people will be starving. Children will suffer from bad nutrition with consequences all of their lives and moreover, the consequences will be such that disruption may occur in the economic environment."
6. Cutaway of media
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director:
"So it is not only a question, a humanitarian question, it's not only an economic question, it's also a democracy question and as we know, learning from the past, those kind of questions sometimes end into war."
8. Strauss-Kahn walks off stage

STORYLINE:

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Saturday that if food prices remained high, there would be dire consequences for people in many developing countries and especially in Africa.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's Managing Director, said the problem could also create trade imbalances that would affect major advanced economies.

With governments in Haiti, Egypt and the Philippines already facing social unrest because of rising food prices and shortages, Strauss-Kahn said that if the price spike continued, hundreds of thousands of people might starve.

"Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives," he said.

Strauss-Kahn spoke after a day-long meeting of the steering committee of the 185-nation IMF, which dealt with the unfolding global financial crisis that has affected economies around the world.

Earlier on Saturday, Germany's development minister, who is attending the World Bank's meeting on Sunday, called for greater regulation of the global biofuels market to prevent its expansion from driving up food prices.

She said the world needed new rules that balanced goals, including climate change mitigation, food security and social development.

The development group Oxfam, a frequent IMF critic, said rich countries were largely responsible for the food crisis because they have been cutting aid to developing countries and encouraging biofuel production, which the IMF says is responsible for almost half the increase in the demand for food crops.

An Oxfam policy adviser said demand for biofuel by rich countries was driving up food prices and was a big part of the problem and by cutting aid levels, they were doing "precious little" to be a part of the solution.

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