2023: A year of food-price and climate shock

Food price shocks turned India protectionist this year, as the country went from being the largest exporter of rice and a big overseas seller of sugar and fresh vegetables to banning or restricting overseas shipments and trade of most commodities.

- Zia Haq

The country prohibited overseas shipments of wheat in March 2022, white rice in July this year and onions this month, after exporting a record 2.5 million tonnes in the financial year ended March 31, with 671,125 tonnes sold to Bangladesh, its biggest buyer. India has also fixed a rare export floor price of $950 a tonne on premium longgrain basmati rice.

With climate change raising the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, India "remains vulnerable to food price shocks" from both domestic and global factors despite a recent moderation in prices, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das warned last month.

This was his second warning in a month about the risks from food inflation that could stretch into 2024. In a speech delivered in Japan on November 8, Das said the central bank saw risks from "recurring and overlapping" food price shocks.