It was recently contagious on social media about the decision of the Indian government, which is the world’s 2nd largest wheat exporter to stop or more roughly ‘ban’ wheat exports.
This has not only caused the price of wheat to rise but also triggered panic among the people of the world, who are generally worried about the rising inflation rate.
Although the staple food of Malaysians is not entirely wheat -based, it is important to understand the reasons why a ban on wheat exports from India could have an impact on the country.
Follow a summary of the Indian wheat export ban and its effects:
On May 13, the Indian government implemented a policy of banning wheat exports to the rest of the world.
This has been announced by the New Delhi government based on the declining amount of wheat in India.
Factors of extreme heat in India, 45 degrees Celsius, and climate change have slowed down wheat production.
The Indian government predicts wheat production will fall by 5% this year from 109 million tonnes in 2021.
The string, BVR Trade Secretary Subrahmanyam reported that wheat and flour prices have jumped 20% to 40% recently.
It is also understood that due to the increase in global prices, some farmers have acted to sell wheat to traders, and not to the government.
It has indirectly added to the Indian government’s concerns about the supplies that need to be distributed to nearly 1.4 billion people in India.
Thus, this has triggered food security and forced the government to take action to control the sale of wheat.
Exports can only be done with explicit government approval.
India, which was previously said to be trying to fill the supply shortage, was seen as at odds with banning wheat exports.
According to G7 agriculture ministers, the ban will exacerbate the crisis of rising commodity prices.
Although India is only the world’s 2nd largest producer, its export guarantees can to some extent support global prices and allay concerns.
However, India’s latest action has added new concerns to global problems following the Ukraine war.
Turning back to Malaysia, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs said the issue of banning Indian wheat exports did not have a significant impact on the country.
This is because Malaysia imports 80% of wheat from Australia and the rest from the United States (US), Canada and Ukraine.
Even so, it will definitely leave an impact on the country due to the increase in commodity prices that continue to rise due to inflation.
