Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian president, has launched a national drive to encourage his countrymen to grow their own chilli peppers. The South Korean government has released emergency supplies of cabbage, pork, mackerel, radish and other staples as part of President Lee Myung-bak’s war on inflation. This week, the Indian cabinet met to discuss the soaring price of onions, an issue reputed to have caused the downfall of two previous administrations. As in 2007-08, the topic of food inflation – even food security – has percolated to the very top of the political agenda.
The spectre of inflation has rattled investors. India’s stock market has fallen 5 per cent since the start of the year. Indonesian shares, among the world’s best performers in 2010, have slid 7 per cent in a few days. Central banks are caught in a bind. Bank Indonesia, citing concerns that higher interest rates could attract more inflows of hot money, last week left rates unchanged for the 17th month in a row. That has prompted concerns that Indonesia’s monetary-policy horse might be clopping along far behind the inflationary cart.
In China, too, higher food prices are feeding inflation, which scaled 5 per cent in November, well above the official 3 per cent target. One of the unorthodox countermeasures taken by Chinese authorities has been to allow vegetable trucks to travel toll-free on highways – a sort of quantitative easing for carrots and aubergines.