IMF chief appeals to India to reconsider wheat export ban during global food crisis

The South Asian nation is the world's largest wheat producer after China

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva appealed to India to reconsider its ban on wheat exports. AFP

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday pleaded with India to reconsider its decision to ban wheat exports, given the South Asian nation's crucial role in ensuring global food security and stability.

“I do have appreciation for the heatwave that has reduced agricultural productivity, but I would beg India to reconsider as soon as possible because the more countries step into export restrictions, the more others would be tempted to do so,” Ms Georgieva told India's NDTV channel at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland. “We would end up as a global community less equipped to deal with the crisis.”

While India, in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, had planned to increase exports to meet the global wheat shortage, in mid-May it imposed a ban on overseas shipments of the grain after a severe heatwave resulted in crop damage and raised fears of a domestic shortage.

It did, however, exempt government-to-government deals.

India is the world's biggest wheat producer after China but exports only small quantities of the grain.

Last year, India produced 109 million tonnes of wheat with exports reaching seven million tonnes.

A baker holds up a seeded white loaf of bread at a bakery in Beirut, Lebanon, which faces a food crisis because of war in Europe. All photos: Bloomberg

A worker opens a sack of flour to prepare bread dough in Beirut. Lebanon's wheat importers are already rationing flour sales to counter panic buying.

Lebanon, already suffering from years of financial crisis, has faced new problems since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Lebanon normally buys 96 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine.

The war between two of the world's biggest wheat exporters has sparked fears of a food crisis in many Middle Eastern countries.

Lebanese importers are struggling to get dollars from a subsidy programme to buy wheat from new suppliers.

As countries try to secure new sources of wheat, cash-strapped Lebanon's small market of 6 million people could go without.

Lebanon lacks grain storage after silos were destroyed in the 2020 Beirut Port blast.

The country needs 50,000 tonnes of wheat to feed its people for a month.

Subsidies keep the price of bread in Lebanon artificially low.

But a loaf now costs on average 10,000 Lebanese pounds, or $0.45, more than six times the price in 2019.

Millers estimate that without subsidies, prices could more than double.

Analysts fear that could cause social unrest in a country where three quarters of the population now live in poverty.

The government was expecting a bumper harvest of 111 million tonnes and planned to export 10 million tonnes, but the intense heat during the harvest season dropped the yield to 106.41 million tonnes, agriculture ministry data showed.

Russia and Ukraine together account for almost a quarter of global wheat production but the war in the region has disrupted supplies, causing a global shortage and an increase in prices.

The global food crisis prompted India on Wednesday to also limit sugar exports to 10 million tonnes this year.

The government said the move was precautionary and aimed at securing supplies and preventing an increase in domestic prices.

The South Asian nation last year was the biggest exporter of sugar after Brazil.