Dear Readers,



We are pleased to share the tenth issue of our monthly publication, the Asia Pacific Food Price and Policy Monitor, which aims to provide up-to-date information on price and policy developments in the Asia-Pacific region.



Highlights of the May 2014 issue are:



*       Food price inflation in the region continued to ease in April, rising at a pace of 3.2 percent compared to 4.5 percent in March as price rises slowed in China, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
*       General inflation in the region fell to 5.1 percent, the fifth straight month inflation eased as moderate rises in food prices helped curb general inflation.
*       FAO is predicting global cereal production will plunge by 2.4 percent in 2014 from the record output in 2013 mainly because of decreases in wheat and coarse grain output.
*       Rice prices remain stable in Asia except in Pakistan and Sri Lanka where lower production increased prices and Thailand where stock releases depressed prices.
*       Sri Lanka removed import duties to curb price increases in the domestic market, while Cambodia eliminated customs fees for milled rice exports to strengthen its competitiveness in the international markets.
*       El Nino forecast for later this year may lead to short-term commodities price rises, although available stocks are likely to mitigate the increases.



For further details please refer to the attachment.



The Asia Pacific Food Price and Policy Monitor and other previous publications on food price information can be found at: http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/rap/home/apfppm/en/.

For readers who may have questions on the publication, please contact us at  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.



Best regards,



Economic, Social and Policy Assistance Group (ESP)

FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Bangkok

Thailand




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