AMMAN: A recent World Bank report said that Jordan was the least Arab country affected by global inflation due to the rise in food prices, which amounted to 3.5 per cent reported Petra.
According to the data, Jordan advanced ascendingly over Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco and Egypt, while Lebanon came in the first place in terms of food price inflation, with a rate of 203.2 per cent.
Food security in Jordan receives great attention, as last year witnessed the launch of the National Strategy for Food Security (2021-2030), in addition to the National Plan for Sustainable Agriculture (2022-2025).
Jordan imports food worth about US$4 billion annually, part of which is raw materials for industry, and the rest is ready for consumption, according to the Jordan Chamber of Commerce.
The strategy comes in the implementation of King Abdullah’s directives to turn Jordan into a regional hub for food security.
The World Bank said that food prices decreased in the third quarter of 2022, but are expected to remain high according to historical standards.
The World Bank’s food price index fell 12 per cent in the third quarter of 2022 (on a quarterly basis) after reaching an all-time high in April, but remains nearly 20 per cent higher than it was a year ago.
It explained that food prices are still high due to the devaluation of local currencies, and it is expected that those prices will decrease by 5 per cent in 2023 before starting to stabilise in 2024, explaining that despite the expected declines, most prices will remain high by historical standards.-Bernama