"The price of global rice prices is particularly worrying," Qingfeng Zhang, a senior director from the Asian Development Bank, told CNBC. Other than India, food inflation has been relatively tame in Asia so far this year. Underscoring how higher food prices erode purchasing power, ADB suggested at that time that a 10% rise in domestic food prices in developing Asia would push 64.4 million into poverty, based on the $1.25-a-day poverty line. Moreover, this spike in rice prices is happening amidst widespread lower food prices. watch nowThis means any spikes in food prices will only translate to food inflation toward the end of this year or early 2024.

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Persons: Qingfeng Zhang, El Niño, Niño, Erica Tay, Tay, Tay . Rice, Xi Jinping, Morgan Stanley, Maybank Nomura, Sonal Varma, Si Ying Toh, Nomura, Paul Hughes, Hughes, Global's Hughes Organizations: Istock, Asian Development Bank, CNBC, ADB, United Nations, FAO, Tay . Locations: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Asia, India, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Tay, U.S, El, Australia, Pacific, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Malaysia