The IMF said the deal played an important role in facilitating the export of food, grain and fertilizer.
Washington:
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that Russia’s exit from a deal allowing Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea threatens to increase global food insecurity and could drive up food prices, especially in low-income countries.
An IMF spokesman said the global lender will continue to closely monitor ongoing developments in the region and their impact on global food insecurity.
“The initiative’s halt has implications for food supplies to countries that rely heavily on shipments from Ukraine, particularly in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia,” the fund said. “It worsens the outlook for food security and threatens to increase global food inflation, especially for low-income countries.”
Several members of the Group of 20 this week condemned Russia’s decision Monday to pull out of the United Nations-brokered Black Sea grain deal for what it called a failure to comply with its demands to implement a parallel agreement that relaxes the rules for its own exports of food and fertilizer.
The IMF said the Black Sea deal has played an important role in facilitating exports of food, grain and fertilizer from Ukraine to the rest of the world. Along with the lifting of export bans and higher-than-expected food production in key exporting countries, the deal helped ease pressure on international food prices, the spokesman noted.
The deal had enabled Ukraine to export about 33 tons of grain by sea and proved to be an important factor in global food security, the IMF spokesman said.
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