Ukraine crisis threatens to raise wheat and bread prices worldwide

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned on Friday, February 25, that the war in Ukraine would have "significant repercussions" on the prices of wheat, of which the country is a major exporter, and thus bread. "There will be a significant impact on wheat prices and also on the prices of regular bread," she said during a virtual conference organized by the International Monetary Fund and the Institute for International Economic Law. "It is part of the economic consequences," she explained, adding that "Ukraine is one of the largest wheat exporters in the world." IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who also took part in this discussion, emphasized that the economic impact "will go beyond Ukraine for three reasons." She explained that the repercussions of the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia, in addition to the economic effects of the conflict, "will mainly lead to (rising) energy prices, as well as grain prices, and this will be added to the growing ...