Rising Inflation : ASEAN focuses on food, energy security
Indonesia called on fellow Southeast Asian states to “give serious attention” to soaring food and energy prices.
JAKARTA:
Indonesia on Saturday called on fellow Southeast Asian states to “give serious attention” to soaring food and energy prices, warning inflation could drive more people into poverty. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, at the start of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, said that the regional bloc must take steps to ease the surge in consumer prices. “We must give serious attention and take concrete measures to address the soaring of food prices and world energy, which in turn will negatively affect the prosperity of our people,” he said in his opening speech. Oil prices surged to a more than two-year peak last month, driven largely by political turmoil in the crude-producing Middle East and North Africa region.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2011.
Indonesia on Saturday called on fellow Southeast Asian states to “give serious attention” to soaring food and energy prices, warning inflation could drive more people into poverty. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, at the start of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, said that the regional bloc must take steps to ease the surge in consumer prices. “We must give serious attention and take concrete measures to address the soaring of food prices and world energy, which in turn will negatively affect the prosperity of our people,” he said in his opening speech. Oil prices surged to a more than two-year peak last month, driven largely by political turmoil in the crude-producing Middle East and North Africa region.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2011.