The surge in global commodity prices of the past few years has presented
a tremendous development challenge to South Asian countries. On a
net basis, South Asia is estimated to have suffered a cumulative income
loss equivalent to some 9.6 percent of GDP between January 2003
and April 2008. Although much of the income loss resulted from the
hike in petroleum prices, the surge in food prices between January 2007
and April 2008, especially of staple food ⎯ wheat and rice ⎯ created
tremendous adverse social impact in South Asia. All countries wit‐
nessed unprecedented surge in food prices, although India was largely
able to limit this increase through a combination of timely interventions
using stock management and public food distribution. Net food
importing countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have
suffered the most from the food price crisis