Douglas Alexander's statement on food and energy prices
13 April 2008
Following today’s meeting of the World Bank Development Committee, UK
Minister for International Development Douglas Alexander commented:
"Much has been said this week about rising food prices, but now is the time for
urgent action to tackle the crisis which is affecting millions of the poorest
people across the globe.
"At today’s meeting I’ve signaled the UK’s willingness to work with others to
address both the immediate and longer-term challenges in order to take action to
cut food prices.
"The effect of present high commodity prices isn’t limited to food though.
Rising energy costs threaten to reverse the gains we’ve made in development in
recent years and we remain concerned about high and volatile oil prices. It’s
important that global oil supplies are sufficient to ensure that the market has
flexibility to respond to potential supply shocks and changes in demand. Both
producers and consumers need to respond flexibly to market signals.
"Given suggestions that OPEC is considering cutting production to keep prices
high, this issue should be high on the agenda of the Energy Ministers meeting in
Rome next week."
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