Since June, the situation has improved in terms of commodity prices, said Rebecca Greenspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), noting that the price of crude oil is now around $93 a barrel, down from $120 in June, and wheat prices have fallen by regarding $93 a barrel. Prices of corn and fertilizer are almost 25 percent lower than they were a month ago.
The UN official added during the launch of a report by the organization that shipping costs have fallen by regarding 10 percent since June, and only natural gas has violated this trend and is still higher than it was a month ago, noting that these are positive developments, as the drop in prices is the key to breaking the vicious cycle of rising Costs, rising inflation, rising interest rates, rising poverty.
The UNCTAD official explained that there are many factors behind this drop in prices, including the Ukrainian wheat export initiative that reduced wheat prices by 6 per cent on the day it was signed, and since then, we have seen the first ship leave the port of Odessa, and today we can say that prices are lower than they were before the deal.
The UN official indicated that he considers the drop in prices good news, but efforts to improve the humanitarian situation are still in their infancy, adding that we are concerned regarding the financial dimension of the crisis, and since inflation was on the rise in all regions of the world, especially in developing countries, interest rates have risen Debt, the Secretary-General said, has become much more expensive, and bond spreads in developing countries have increased by regarding 15 per cent since June.
